Satellite altimetry over small reservoirs in the Brazilian semiarid region

Abstract

Northeast Brazil is one of the most populated semiarid regions in the world. The region is highly dependent on reservoirs for human water supply, irrigation, industry, and livestock. The objective of this study was to validate water level time series from the satellites Envisat, SARAL, Sentinel-3A/-3B, Jason-2/-3 in small reservoirs in Northeast Brazil. In total, we evaluated the water level time series of 20 reservoirs. The Sentinel-3B outperforms the other altimeters with a maximum RMSE of 0.21 m. In seven reservoirs with updated depth-area-volume curves, the altimetric water level was used to calculate the corresponding volume. The obtained volume was then compared to the volume given by the same curve by using in situ stage. Our investigations showed that, in the case of small reservoirs, the precision of water level time series derived from satellite altimetry is mainly governed by the seasonal variability of the water storage especially at the end of the 2012-2017 drought period.