Combining high-resolution satellite images and altimetry to estimate the volume of small lakes

Abstract

Abstract. This study presents an approach to determine the volume of water in small lakes (<100 ha) by combining satellite altimetry data and high-resolution (HR) images. The lake being studied is located in the south-west of France and is only used for agricultural irrigation purposes. The altimetry satellite data are provided by RA-2 sensor on board Envisat, and the high-resolution images (<10 m) are obtained from optical (Formosat-2) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors (Terrasar-X and Radarsat-2) satellites. The altimetry data (data are obtained every 35 days) and the HR images (45) have been available since 2003 and 2010, respectively. In situ data (for the water levels and volumes) going back to 2003 have been provided by the manager of the lake. Three independent approaches are developed to estimate the lake volume and its temporal variability. The first two approaches are empirical and use synchronous ground measurements of the water volume and the satellite data. The results demonstrate that altimetry and imagery can be effectively and accurately used to monitor the temporal variations of the lake (R2altimetry = 0.97, RMSEaltimetry = 5.2%, R2imagery = 0.90, and RMSEimagery = 7.4%). The third method combines altimetry (to measure the lake level) and satellite images (of the lake surface) to estimate the volume changes of the lake and produces the best results (R2 = 0.99) of the three methods, demonstrating the potential of future Sentinel and SWOT missions to monitor small lakes and reservoirs for agricultural and irrigation applications.

Surface Freshwater Storage Variations in the Orinoco Floodplains Using Multi-Satellite Observations

“…This validation process was highly dependent on the length of the concomitant observations and on the distance to the closest gauge. Previous studies demonstrated the capability of radar altimetry to retrieve reliable water levels over water bodies larger than 200 or 300 m across [46,51,68,69], even over floodplains covered with vegetation [19,68,70]. At nadir incidence, the intensity of the returned power is weakly attenuated by the vegetation cover (at least for Leaf Area Index < 1.5; see [71]), even if the radar echo is impacted.…”

The Performance and Potentials of the CryoSat-2 SAR and SARIn Modes for Lake Level Estimation

“…[3] studied annual water level oscillations of the remote Lake Namco on the Tibetan Plateau, and Ref. [4] used conventional altimetry together with high resolution imagery to estimate lake water storage of small lakes. Ref.…”

Remote Sensing of Storage Fluctuations of Poorly Gauged Reservoirs and State Space Model (SSM)-Based Estimation

“…Thirdly, we used the altimetry Landsat volume variation (ALVV) method by combining the water level from satellite altimetry with the respective surface area of the reservoir to obtain the volumetric variations [16][17][18][19]. Other groups [16,20] used a similar approach of estimating volumes by three methods; however, they either combined in situ observations or used existing elevation-volume relationships or storage capacities of the reservoirs from different databases. In this paper, we present a new LBV method for reservoir volume estimation and compare it to the results obtained from the ABV and ALVV methods.…”

“…In other previous studies, in situ water levels were combined with satellite-derived areas to obtain the volume [13,15,16]. Thirdly, we used the altimetry Landsat volume variation (ALVV) method by combining the water level from satellite altimetry with the respective surface area of the reservoir to obtain the volumetric variations [16][17][18][19]. Other groups [16,20] used a similar approach of estimating volumes by three methods; however, they either combined in situ observations or used existing elevation-volume relationships or storage capacities of the reservoirs from different databases.…”

“…Andreoli et al [14] integrated a 90 m SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM with 75 m-1 km ENVISAT images and averaged the water levels at the boundary buffer to derive water height. In other previous studies, in situ water levels were combined with satellite-derived areas to obtain the volume [13,15,16]. Thirdly, we used the altimetry Landsat volume variation (ALVV) method by combining the water level from satellite altimetry with the respective surface area of the reservoir to obtain the volumetric variations [16][17][18][19].…”