A review of applications of satellite SAR, optical, altimetry and DEM data for surface water modelling, mapping and parameter estimation

Abstract

Abstract. Hydrological data collection requires deployment of physical infrastructure like rain gauges, water level gauges, as well as use of expensive equipment like echo sounders. Many countries around the world have recorded a decrease in deployment of physical infrastructure for hydrological measurements; developing countries especially have less of this infrastructure and, where it exists, it is poorly maintained. Satellite remote sensing can bridge this gap, and has been applied by hydrologists over the years, with the earliest applications in water body and flood mapping. With the availability of more optical satellites with relatively low temporal resolutions globally, satellite data are commonly used for mapping of water bodies, testing of inundation models, precipitation monitoring, and mapping of flood extent. Use of satellite data to estimate hydrological parameters continues to increase due to use of better sensors, improvement in knowledge of and utilization of satellite data, and expansion of research topics. A review of applications of satellite remote sensing in surface water modelling, mapping and parameter estimation is presented, and its limitations for surface water applications are also discussed.

Combining Multispectral Imagery with in situ Topographic Data Reveals Complex Water Level Variation in China’s Largest Freshwater Lake

“…Traditionally, measuring water level has relied on in situ gauge stations [6], but this method is labor intensive and does not provide continuous spatial data across large areas [7,8]. Since the 1990s, the growing availability of satellite remote sensing data has increased opportunities for monitoring large rivers from space [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Application of Remote Sensing Data to Constrain Operational Rainfall-Driven Flood Forecasting: A Review

“…There have also been attempts to integrate other types of remote sensing products into forecasting models, e.g., remotely sensed terrestrial water storage (TWS) [16,23], leaf area index (LAI) and/or evapotranspiration (ET) [18]; however, they have not been used for operational purposes. Remote sensing based elevation data have been used in hydraulic modelling, which mostly focus on flood management instead of operational forecasting at the current stage [20,21].…”

“…While a number of reviews on hydrologic model data integration [14][15][16][17][18][19] and the use of remote sensing data for flood monitoring and mapping [20,21] have referred to this topic; there has not been a review article specifically on the use of remote sensing in operational flood forecasting applications, which is an important research area and has its own specific challenges and opportunities. Although floods can be driven by either rainfall or snowmelt, these types of processes are quite different in runoff generation mechanism.…”

A scalable open-source web-analytic framework to improve satellite-based operational water management in developing countries

“…Satellite and airborne remote sensing observations can provide valuable information and can be used to support the operational water resources community for management practices and decisions (Bolten et al, 2015). For over a decade, satellite observations have been used for various weather and climate prediction studies and applications at operational scales (Kansakar and Hossain, 2016;Khan et al, 2012;Gebregiorgis and Hossain, 2011;Nijssen and Lettenmaier, 2004 (Musa et al, 2015;Gebregiorgis and Hossain, 2014). However, several challenges remain for effective application these data, such as uncertainty, limited sampling and skill.…”