A review of low‐cost space‐borne data for flood modelling: topography,flood extent and water level

During the last two decades, remote sensing data have led to tremendous progress in advancing flood inundation modelling. In particular, low‐cost space‐borne data can be invaluable for large‐scale flood studies in data‐scarce areas. Various satellite products yield valuable information such as land surface elevation, flood extent and water level, which could potentially contribute to various flood studies. An increasing number of research studies have been dedicated to exploring those low‐cost data towards building, calibration and evaluation, and remote‐sensed information assimilation into hydraulic models. This paper aims at reviewing these recent scientific efforts on the integration of low‐cost space‐borne remote sensing data with flood modelling. Potentials and limitations of those data in flood modelling are discussed. This paper also introduces the future satellite missions and anticipates their likely impacts in flood modelling. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterisation of flood inundated areas and delineation of poor drainage soil using ERS-1 SAR imagery

Recent years have been marked by a continuous availability of spatial SAR data since the launch of the European remote sensing satellite (ERS-1) in 1991. Consequently, remote sensing techniques now offer an opportunity to map flood inundation fields caused by river overflow or waterlogging in environments characterized by frequent cloud cover. Indeed, inundation fields can clearly be seen on ERS-1 SAR images taken during flooding periods. However, such an identification can be constrained by the similarity in behaviour between water surfaces and other features of the landscape such as extended asphalt areas, permanent water bodies and less illuminated slopes. For consistent flood inundation extent mapping a more robust approach is required. This is provided by a conceptual flood inundation index that is physically sound in relation to radar imaging. Moreover, this index has proved to be useful for highlighting soils located within inundation fields and having significantly different internal drainage. The results achieved in the framework of the research must be seen in the context of intensive use of remote sensing data to support decision methods for sustainable management of land and water resources. Such decision support methods could be provided by river hydraulic models aimed at assessing environmental effects of inundation floods and at early flood warning systems. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Potential for satellite remote sensing of ground water

Predicting hydrologic behavior at regional scales requires heterogeneous data that are often prohibitively expensive to acquire on the ground. As a result, satellite-based remote sensing has become a powerful tool for surface hydrology. Subsurface hydrology has yet to realize the benefits of remote sensing, even though surface expressions of ground water can be monitored from space. Remotely sensed indicators of ground water may provide important data where practical alternatives are not available. The potential for remote sensing of ground water is explored here in the context of active and planned satellite-based sensors. Satellite technology is reviewed with respect to its ability to measure ground water potential, storage, and fluxes. It is argued here that satellite data can be used if ancillary analysis is used to infer ground water behavior from surface expressions. Remotely sensed data are most useful where they are combined with numerical modeling, geographic information systems, and ground-based information.     

Review of snow water equivalent microwave remote sensing

Accurate quantitative global scale snow water equivalent information is crucial for meteorology, hydrology, water cycle and global change studies, and is of great importance for snow melt-runoff forecast, water resources management and flood control. With land surface process model and snow process model, the snow water equivalent can be simulated with certain accuracy, with the forcing data as input. However, the snow water equivalent simulated using the snow process models has large uncertainties spatially and temporally, and it may be far from the needs of practical applications. Thus, the large scale snow water equivalent information is mainly from remote sensing. Beginning with the launch of Nimbus-7 satellite, the research on microwave snow water equivalent remote sensing has developed for more than 30 years, researchers have made progress in many aspects, including the electromagnetic scattering and emission modeling, ground and airborne experiments, and inversion algorithms for future global high resolution snow water equivalent remote sensing program. In this paper, the research and progress in the aspects of electromagnetic scattering/emission modeling over snow covered terrain and snow water equivalent inversion algorithm will be summarized.     

On Creating Global Gridded Terrestrial Water Budget Estimates from Satellite Remote Sensing

The increasing availability and reliability of satellite remote sensing products [e.g., precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), and the total water storage change (TWSC)] make it feasible to estimate the global terrestrial water budget at fine spatial resolution. In this study, we start from a reference water budget dataset that combines all available data sources, including satellite remote sensing, land surface model (LSM) and reanalysis, and investigate the roles of different non-satellite remote sensing products in closing the terrestrial water budget through a sensitivity analysis by removing/replacing one or more categories of products during the budget estimation. We also study the differences made by various satellite products for the same budget variable. We find that the gradual removal of non-satellite data sources will generally worsen the closure errors in the budget estimates, and remote sensing retrievals of P, ET, and TWSC together with runoff (R) from LSM give the worst closure errors. The gauge-corrected satellite precipitation helps to improve the budget closure (4.2–9 % non-closure errors of annual mean precipitation) against using the non-gauge-corrected precipitation (7.6–10.4 % non-closure errors). At last, a data assimilation technique, the constrained Kalman filter, is applied to enforce the water balance, and it is found that the satellite remote sensing products, though with worst closure, yield comparable budget estimates in the constrained system to the reference data. Overall, this study provides a first comparison between the water budget closure using the satellite remote sensing products and a full combination of remote sensing, LSM, and reanalysis products on a quasi-global basis. This study showcases the capability and potential of the satellite remote sensing in closing the terrestrial water budget at fine spatial resolution if properly constrained.     

On the dynamics and morphology of extensive tidal mudflats: Integrating remote sensing data with an inundation model of Cook Inlet, Alaska

A new method of integrating satellite remote sensing data and inundation models allows the mapping of extensive tidal mudflats in a sub-Arctic estuary, Cook Inlet (CI), Alaska. The rapid movement of the shorelines in CI due to the large tides (~10 m range) is detected from a series of Landsat imagery taken at different tidal stages, whereas GIS tools are used to identify the water coverage in each satellite image and to extract the coordinates of the shoreline. Then, water level along the shoreline for each satellite image is calculated from the observed water level at Anchorage and the statistics of an inundation model. Several applications of the analysis are demonstrated: 1. studying the dynamics of a tidal bore and the flood/ebb processes, 2. identifying climatic changes in mudflats morphology, and 3. mapping previously unobserved mudflat topographies in order to improve inundation models. The method can be used in other regions to evaluate models and improve predictions of catastrophic floods such as those associated with hurricane storm surges and tsunamis.     

Operational applications of remote sensing in hydrology: success,prospects and problems

Abstract

The use of remote sensing information in operational hydrology is relatively limited, but specific examples can be cited for determining precipitation, soil moisture, groundwater, snow, surface water and basin characteristics. The application of remote sensing in hydrology can be termed operational if at least one of two conditions are met: (a) the application produces an output on a regular basis, or (b) the remote sensing data are used regularly on a continuing basis as part of a procedure to solve a problem or make decisions. When surveying the various operational applications, simple approaches and simple remote sensing data sets are the most successful. In the data-sparse developing countries, many operational remote sensing approaches exist (out of necessity) that may not be needed in developed countries because of existing data networks. To increase the use of remote sensing in operational hydrology in developed countries, pilot projects need to be increased and information services must be improved. Increased utilization of GIS to combine remote sensing with other information will promote new products and applications. End user training must be improved by focusing on satellite data processing and manipulation. In developing countries the same improvements are needed plus some more basic ones. There is a need for international monetary assistance to establish long-term remote sensing data, improved database systems and image processing capabilities. There is also the need to set up innovative regional training centres throughout the developing world.     

Publications received by the Editor

Abstract

Remote sensing is the use of electromagnetic energy to measure the physical properties of distant objects. It includes photography and geophysical surveying as well as newer techniques that use other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The history of remote sensing begins with photography. The origin of other types of remote sensing can be traced to World War II, with the development of radar, sonar, and thermal infrared detection systems. Since the 1960s, sensors have been designed to operate in virtually all of the electromagnetic spectrum. Today a wide variety of remote sensing instruments are available for use in hydrological studies; satellite data, such as Skylab photographs and Landsat images are particularly suitable for regional problems and studies. Planned future satellites will provide a ground resolution of 10–80 m.

Remote sensing is currently used for hydrological applications in most countries of the world. The range of applications includes groundwater exploration determination of physical water quality, snowfield mapping, flood-inundation delineation, and making inventories of irrigated land. The use of remote sensing commonly results in considerable hydrological information at minimal cost. This information can be used to speed-up the development of water resources, to improve management practices, and to monitor environmental problems.     

An assessment of water reserve changes in Salt Lake,Turkey, through multi‐temporal Landsat imagery and real‐time ground surveys

This paper focuses mainly on the investigation of water reserve changes in Salt Lake, Turkey, using remote‐sensing data. The study is performed in two stages: (1) correlation analysis for real‐time ground and satellite data and (2) assessment of water reserve changes using multi‐temporal Landsat imagery. First, correlation analysis is conducted to investigate the relationship between digital data from Landsat‐5 TM and spectral (in situ) measurements collected using a field spectroradiometer on the same day and time. A radiometric correction procedure, including conversions from digital numbers to radiance and from radiance to at‐satellite reflectance, is executed to make satellite data comparable to in situ measurements. This procedure show that simultaneous ground and satellite remote‐sensing data are highly correlated (0·84 > R² > 97) and the near‐infrared region (for this study TM4‐Landsat‐5 TM, band 4) is the best spectral range to distinguish salt and water on the satellite data for the multi‐temporal analysis of the water reserve in Salt Lake. It also shows that the use of shortwave infrared band(s) will result in confusion for the determination of the water reserve in this water‐covered study area. In a second and last phase, the water reserve change in the lake is examined using multi‐temporal Landsat imagery collected in 1990, 2001 and 2005. The remotely sensed, sampled and treated data show that the water reserve in the lake has decreased markedly between 1990 and 2005 due to drought and uncontrolled water usage. It is suggested that the use of water supplies around Salt Lake should be controlled and that the lake should regularly be monitored by up‐to‐date remote‐sensing data (at least annually) for better management of water resources. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of inundation areas resulting from the diversion of an extreme discharge towards the sea: case study in Tabasco,Mexico

This investigation comprises the hydraulic characterisation of a river located in the Mexican State of Tabasco, including the performance of its flood plain under the action of an extreme river discharge. This is done through the combination of a high‐quality validation dataset, remote sensing information, and a standard 2D numerical model. The dataset was collected during an intensive field campaign that took place in August 2009. In particular, in situ measurements of river discharge, bathymetry, water level, and velocities through a whole tidal cycle are employed along with multi‐spectral satellite imagery. The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, the integrated approach comprising the combination of a 2D hydrodynamic model, high‐quality in situ measurements and satellite imagery reduce the uncertainty in the model parameterisation and results. Secondly, it is shown that freely available sources of information, such as the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data can be processed and utilized in 2D hydraulic models. This is particularly important in countries where high‐resolution elevation data is not yet available. It is demonstrated that the selected approach is useful when the study of possible consequences in a flood plain induced by an extreme flood discharge are sought. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integration of GRACE mass variations into a global hydrological model

Time-variable gravity data of the GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) satellite mission provide global information on temporal variations of continental water storage. In this study, we incorporate GRACE data for the first time directly into the tuning process of a global hydrological model to improve simulations of the continental water cycle. For the WaterGAP Global Hydrology Model (WGHM), we adopt a multi-objective calibration framework to constrain model predictions by both measured river discharge and water storage variations from GRACE and illustrate it on the example of three large river basins: Amazon, Mississippi and Congo. The approach leads to improved simulation results with regard to both objectives. In case of monthly total water storage variations we obtained a RMSE reduction of about 25 mm for the Amazon, 6 mm for the Mississippi and 1 mm for the Congo river basin. The results highlight the valuable nature of GRACE data when merged into large-scale hydrological modeling. Furthermore, they reveal the utility of the multi-objective calibration framework for the integration of remote sensing data into hydrological models.     

考虑采砂影响的鄱阳湖丰水期悬浮泥沙浓度模拟

针对受采砂活动影响显著的鄱阳湖高浑浊水体,结合数值模拟和遥感技术,利用已有的鄱阳湖采砂区遥感监测结果,在构建的鄱阳湖水动力-悬浮泥沙输移模型中添加泥沙点源,对2011年7月1-31日采砂影响下的鄱阳湖丰水期悬浮泥沙浓度进行数值模拟.利用悬浮泥沙浓度实测数据和MODIS影像反演结果对模拟结果的有效验证表明,考虑采砂影响后,悬浮泥沙浓度模拟值与实测值具有强相关关系,确定性系数为0.831,均方根误差为15.5 mg/L,悬浮泥沙浓度空间分布趋势与遥感反演结果基本一致.模拟结果显示,采砂活动对鄱阳湖南部主湖区、河流入湖口影响较小,其主要影响由南向北,经棠荫以西和松门山岛以北航道、入江水道延伸到湖口区域,是鄱阳湖北湖区高浑浊水体形成的重要原因.     

II. Snow hydrology processes and remote sensing

In the last 20 years remote sensing research has led to significant progress in monitoring and measuring certain snow hydrology processes. Snow distribution in a drainage basin can be adequately assessed by visible sensors. Although there are still some interpretation problems, the NOAA-AVHRR sensor can provide frequent views of the areal snow cover in a basin, and snow cover maps are produced operationally by the National Weather Service on about 3000 drainage basins in North America. Measurement of snow accumulation or snow water equivalent with microwave remote sensing has great potential because of the capabilities for depth penetration, all-weather observation and night-time viewing. Several critical areas of research remain, namely, the acquisition of snow grain size information for input to microwave models and improvement in passive microwave resolution from space. Methods that combine both airborne gamma ray and visible satellite remote sensing of the snowpack with field measurements also hold promise for determining areal snow water equivalent. Some remote sensing techniques can also be used to detect different stages of snow metamorphism. Various aspects of snowpack ripening can be detected using microwave and thermal infra-red capabilities. The capabilities for measurement of snow albedo and surface temperature have direct application in both snow metamorphism and snowpack energy balance studies. The potentially most profitable research area here is the study of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function to improve snow albedo measurements. Most of the remote sensing capabilities in snow hydrology have been developed for improving snowmelt-run-off forecasting. Most applications have used the input of snow cover extent to deterministic models, both of the degree day and energy balance types. Snowmelt-run-off forecasts using satellite derived snow cover depletion curves and the models have been successfully made. As the extraction of additional snow cover characteristics becomes possible, remote sensing will have an even greater impact on snow hydrology. Important remote sensing capabilities will become available in the next 20 years through space platform observing systems that will improve our capability to observe the snowpack on an operational basis.     

Characterization of complex fluvial systems using remote sensing of spatial and temporal water level variations in the Amazon,Congo, and Brahmaputra Rivers

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission will provide global, space‐based estimates of water elevation, its temporal change, and its spatial slope in fluvial environments, as well as across lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, and floodplains. This paper illustrates the utility of existing remote sensing measurements of water temporal changes and spatial slope to characterize two complex fluvial environments. First, repeat‐pass interferometric SAR measurements from the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite are used to compare and contrast floodplain processes in the Amazon and Congo River basins. Measurements of temporal water level changes over the two areas reveal clearly different hydraulic processes at work. The Amazon is highly interconnected by floodplain channels, resulting in complex flow patterns. In contrast, the Congo does not show similar floodplain channels and the flow patterns are not well defined and have diffuse boundaries. During inundation, the Amazon floodplain often shows sharp hydraulic changes across floodplain channels. The Congo, however, does not show similar sharp changes during either infilling or evacuation. Second, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission measurements of water elevation are used to derive water slope over the braided Brahmaputra river system. In combination with in situ bathymetry measurements, water elevation and slope allow one to calculate discharge estimates within 2.3% accuracy. These two studies illustrate the utility of satellite‐based measurements of water elevation for characterizing complex fluvial environments, and highlight the potential of SWOT measurements for fluvial hydrology. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

湖泊水色遥感研究进展

从卫星传感器、大气校正、光学特性测量、生物光学模型及水体辐射传输、水质参数反演方法等方面,系统分析了湖泊水色遥感的发展现状.湖泊水体物质组份的复杂性以及卫星传感器与实际需求的矛盾决定了湖泊水色遥感的难度.目前湖泊水色遥感在一些关键问题上仍没有实质性进步,离水色遥感监测的业务化尚有一段距离.令人欣慰的是,卫星传感器以及水色遥感反演算法的不断发展和进步,让我们看到了胜利的曙光.     

环境一号卫星高光谱遥感数据的内陆水质监测适宜性——以巢湖为例

环境一号星座的A星(HJ-1A)上搭载了超光谱成像仪(HSI),它是具有高光谱分辨率的全新国产遥感数据源,为水质遥感特别是内陆水质遥感提供了新的高光谱数据.但HSI影像的处理方法尚不完善,在广泛应用于水质遥感前对其进行质量研究和评价非常必要.本文针对HSI数据在巢湖水质监测应用方面的适宜性,对信噪比和数据真实性、倾斜条...     

基于遥感震害指数的尼泊尔地震综合烈度评估研究

2015年4月25日在尼泊尔廓尔喀县发生的8.1级地震及后续强烈余震,造成尼泊尔北部严重的人员伤亡和财产损失,灾区建筑物倒塌损失严重。本文利用现场震害调查资料和高分卫星遥感影像,开展建筑物震害遥感解译,得到各个遥感解译点的遥感震害指数,结合现场调查点评估的烈度拟合了遥感震害指数-实际震害指数转换关系,再根据遥感震害指数估计了全部解译点的震害指数及地震烈度。估计的烈度与现场调查结果对比显示出较好的一致性,研究结果为该地区今后发生地震提供了可借鉴的遥感评估震害指数转换模型。     

Flood delineation in a large and complex alluvial valley, lower Pa´nuco basin, Mexico

Determining the extent of flooding is an important role of the hydrological research community and provides a vital service to planners and engineers. For large river systems located within distant settings it is practical to utilize a remote sensing approach. This study combines a remote sensing and geomorphic approach to delineate the extent of a large hurricane generated flood event in the lower Pánuco basin (98,227 km²), the seventh largest river system draining into the Gulf of Mexico. The lower Pánuco basin is located within the coastal plain of eastern Mexico and has a complex alluvial valley. Data sources included a Landsat 5TM and Landsat 7ETM⁺ scene, and topographic and particle size data from fieldwork and laboratory analysis. The Landsat 5TM image was acquired after the peak of a large flood event in 1993, whereas the Landsat 7ETM⁺ scene was acquired during the dry season in 2000. The increasing number of days between flood crest and the date of flood image acquisition along the river valley provided the opportunity to examine several methods of flood delineation and to consider differences in floodplain geomorphology. Backswamp environments were easily delineated in flooded reaches within the Panuco and Tamuin valleys, whereas in the Moctezuma valley more sophisticated methods were required because of the greater time between image acquisition and flood peak, and the complex floodplain topography. This included Principal Component (PC) analysis and image classification. Within the floodplain, residual Holocene terraces complicated flood mapping. Classification of both images allowed consideration of the influence of permanent standing water. Although the flooded areas were greater in the lower reaches of the study area, because this portion of the valley contained large floodplain lakes, the amount of inundation was actually lower. Remote sensing offers the ability to examine large alluvial valleys in distant settings but does not imply that geomorphic criteria should be excluded. Indeed, because of heterogeneous floodplain topography this study illustrates the importance of including field based geomorphic analysis so that the complexity of distinct floodplain environments are considered. The findings from this study are significant because most remote sensing data obtained for the purpose of flood mapping will not coincide with the flood crest. Thus, this study provides an appropriate method for mapping flood inundation in large and complex floodplain settings after flood crest recession.     

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Abstract

On a regional scale (from about 10 to 10⁵km²) estimations of actual evapotranspiration ET for water balance equations are generally missing. The various methods available at present are briefly described and discussed. The use of remote sensing, in particular infra-red thermometry by satellite, in conjunction with soil energy budget data, is the only method to provide satisfactory data on the same scale in space and lime for water balance models. This method is being studied at the INRA Bioclimatology Station at Avignon in the framework of the European ‘Tellus’ project for using HCMM satellite data. Systems for continuously recording the components of the energy budget and ET have been installed in the Crau plain, north of Marseilles, in both a dry area and a large area of irrigated pastures. By combining the recorded measurements with the satellite data and starting from values for elements of 25 ha (500 m × 500 m), the ET for the whole of the Crau plain can be estimated. First results are analysed and the possibilities and limitations of the method are discussed.     

基于实测光谱数据的太湖水华和水生高等植物识别

水华和水生高等植物的识别对于内陆水质遥感监测至关重要,其分布状况既可以用于表征水牛植物的分布状况,从而间接反映水质分布状况,又可以进一步利用非水华和水草的水体遥感数据进行水质参数反演.然而,常用的多光谱遥感数据很难精确识别水华和水草,只有高光谱遥感数据才能够捕捉水华、水草和水体细致的光谱差异,从而对水华和水草进行精确识别.但是目前还缺乏基于高光谱遥感数据的水华和水草识别的系统性研究.以太湖为研究区,于2006年7月和10月开展了2次水面光谱测量实验,获取了水华、浮叶植物、沉水植物和水体的反射率光谱.在光谱分析的基础上,首先建它了4种光谱指数,进而利用这4种光谱指数建立了水华、浮叶植物、沉水植物和水体的判别公式,并利用2006年10月水面实验测量的光谱数据训练得到了判别公式中的阈值.通过2006年7月水面实验测量的光谱数据的检验,证明提出的判别公式能够很好的识别水华和水草,获得了较高的识别精度.