A synergetic use of satellite imagery from SAR and optical sensors to improve coastal flood mapping in the Gulf of Mexico

This work proposes a method for detecting inundation between semi‐diurnal low and high water conditions in the northern Gulf of Mexico using high‐resolution satellite imagery. Radarsat 1, Landsat imagery and aerial photography from the Apalachicola region in Florida were used to demonstrate and validate the algorithm. A change detection approach was implemented through the analysis of red, green and blue (RGB) false colour composites image to emphasise differences in high and low tide inundation patterns. To alleviate the effect of inherent speckle in the SAR images, we also applied ancillary optical data. The flood‐prone area for the site was delineated a priori through the determination of lower and higher water contour lines with Landsat images combined with a high‐resolution digital elevation model. This masking technique improved the performance of the proposed algorithm with respect to detection techniques using the entire Radarsat scene. The resulting inundation maps agreed well with historical aerial photography as the probability of detection reached 83%. The combination of SAR data and optical images, when coupled with a high‐resolution digital elevation model, was shown to be useful for inundation mapping and have a great potential for evaluating wetting/drying algorithms of inland and coastal hydrodynamic models. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

IHMS—Integrated Hydrological Modelling System. Part 1. Hydrological processes and general structure

A newly Integrated Hydrological Modelling System (IHMS) has been developed to study the impact of changes in climate, land use and water management on groundwater and seawater intrusion (SWI) into coastal areas. The system represents the combination of three models, which can, if required, be run separately. It has been designed to assess the combined impact of climate, land use and groundwater abstraction changes on river, drainage and groundwater flows, groundwater levels and, where appropriate, SWI. The approach is interdisciplinary and reflects an integrated water management approach. The system comprises three packages: the Distributed Catchment Scale Model (DiCaSM), MODFLOW (96 and 2000) and SWI models. In addition to estimating all water balance components, DiCaSM, produces the recharge data that are used as input to the groundwater flow model of the US Geological Survey, MODFLOW. The latter subsequently generates the head distribution and groundwater flows that are used as input to the SWI model, SWI. Thus, any changes in land use, rainfall, water management, abstraction, etc. at the surface are first handled by DiCaSM, then by MODFLOW and finally by the SWI. The three models operate at different spatial and temporal scales and a facility (interface utilities between models) to aggregate/disaggregate input/output data to meet a desired spatial and temporal scale was developed allowing smooth and easy communication between the three models. As MODFLOW and SWI are published and in the public domain, this article focuses on DiCaSM, the newly developed unsaturated zone DiCaSM and equally important the interfacing utilities between the three models. DiCaSM simulates a number of hydrological processes: rainfall interception, evapotranspiration, surface runoff, infiltration, soil water movement in the root zone, plant water uptake, crop growth, stream flow and groundwater recharge. Input requirements include distributed data sets of rainfall, land use, soil types and digital terrain; climate data input can be either distributed or non‐distributed. The model produces distributed and time series output of all water balance components including potential evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration, rainfall interception, infiltration, plant water uptake, transpiration, soil water content, soil moisture (SM) deficit, groundwater recharge rate, stream flow and surface runoff. This article focuses on details of the hydrological processes and the various equations used in DiCaSM, as well as the nature of the interface to the MODFLOW and SWI models. Furthermore, the results of preliminary tests of DiCaSM are reported; these include tests related to the ability of the model to predict the SM content of surface and subsurface soil layers, as well as groundwater levels. The latter demonstrates how the groundwater recharge calculated from DiCaSM can be used as input into the groundwater model MODFLOW using aggregation and disaggregation algorithms (built into the interface utility). SWI has also been run successfully with hypothetical examples and was able to reproduce the results of some of the original examples of Bakker and Schaars ( 2005 ). In the subsequent articles, the results of applications to different catchments will be reported. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detecting co-seismic displacements in glaciated regions: An example from the great November 2002 Denali earthquake using SPOT horizontal offsets

We use SPOT image pairs to determine horizontal offsets associated with the Mw 7.9 November 2002 Denali earthquake in the vicinity of Slate Creek, AK. Field measurements and aerial photographs are used to further characterize the geometry of the surface rupture. Aerial photographs show that shear localization occurs where the rupture trace is linear, and distributed off-fault deformation is common at fault bends and step-overs, or at geologic contacts between rock, glacial sediments, and ice. The displacement field is generated using a sub-pixel cross correlation technique between SPOT images taken before and after the earthquake. We identify the effects of glacier motion in order to isolate the tectonic displacements associated with the Denali earthquake. The resulting horizontal displacement field shows an along-strike variation in dextral shear, with a maximum of approximately 7.5 m in the east near 144° 52′W, which decreases to about 5 m to the west near 145° 45′W. If the November 2002 earthquake represents the long-term behavior of the Denali fault, it implies a westward decrease in the long-term dextral slip rate. A possible mechanism to accommodate the westward decreasing slip on the Denali fault is to transfer fault slip to adjacent east-trending contractional structures in the western region of the central Alaskan Range.     

Adaptation of the SNOWMAP algorithm for snow mapping over eastern Canada using Landsat-TM imagery

Abstract

The snow mapping algorithm SNOWMAP was adapted to Landsat-TM data and to the context of eastern Canada. Six Landsat-5 TM scenes were used. It was found that the original version of SNOWMAP greatly underestimates snow cover extent. The modification made to the original algorithm, by cancelling the minimum threshold of 0.1 on the NDVI value, allows gaps to be filled in. In addition, a spatial correction procedure applied to the modified SNOWMAP algorithm results improves snow detection under coniferous forests. Based on a limited data set of ground-based observations (only 40 sites were available), the modified SNOWMAP seems to perform better in snow detection than the original version of the algorithm. An application case is presented in order to demonstrate the relevance of the modified SNOWMAP results as a high spatial-resolution reference for the validation of historical snow maps derived from medium spatial-resolution satellite data.

Citation Chokmani, K., Dever, K., Bernier, M., Gauthier, Y. & Paquet, L.-M. (2010) Adaptation of the SNOWMAP algorithm for snow mapping over eastern Canada using Landsat-TM imagery. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(4), 649–660.     

Regional‐scale mapping of groundwater discharge zones using thermal satellite imagery

Mapping groundwater discharge zones at broad spatial scales remains a challenge, particularly in data sparse regions. We applied a regional scale mapping approach based on thermal remote sensing to map discharge zones in a complex watershed with a broad diversity of geological materials, land cover and topographic variation situated within the Prairie Parkland of northern Alberta, Canada. We acquired winter thermal imagery from the USGS Landsat archive to demonstrate the utility of this data source for applications that can complement both scientific and management programs. We showed that the thermally determined potential discharge areas were corroborated with hydrological (spring locations) and chemical (conservative tracers of groundwater) data. This study demonstrates how thermal remote sensing can form part of a comprehensive mapping framework to investigate groundwater resources over broad spatial scales. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

太湖流域水文遥测系统可靠性分析

水文遥测系统工作制式不同,系统的验收标准也不同,水文遥测系统的组网结构不同,系统可靠性的分析也不同。本文用概率方法对太湖流域水文遥测系统的可靠性进行探讨,对带存储功能的应答系统采用系统可靠度衡量,而不采用月平均数据畅通率衡量;同时讨论不同的系统结构对可靠性的影响,这种以概率统计的方法分析水文遥测系统的可靠性,对水文遥测系统建设的验收标准制定和水文遥测系统结构设计具有重要意义。     

Hydrological consequences of artificial drainage of grassland

Soil water regimes and water balances are presented for a series of drained and undrained experimental grassland plots, intended to examine the agronomic consequences of drainage. Although drainage has lowered the watertables and reduced the duration of waterlogging in the drained plots, its effects in terms either of the total water quantities leaving the site or of peak flows is quite small. The major effect of drainage is to alter the route of water loss from the site. In its undrained state, the soil is waterlogged for the majority of the winter, incident rainfall cannot infiltrate, and water leaves as surface runoff or near-surface flow. The introduction of fissures by mole drainage both provides an outlet and enhances the macroporosity, so that the rain moves rapidly through the soil and appears as drainflow. Consequently, the additional delay in generating peak runoff through the drainage system is only of the order of 30 minutes on this site.     

Hydrological simulation of the Betwa River basin (India) using the SWAT model

A seasonal water budget analysis was carried out to quantify various components of the hydrological cycle using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model for the Betwa River basin (43?500 km²) in central India. The model results were satisfactory in calibration and validation. The seasonal water budget analysis showed that about 90% of annual rainfall and 97% of annual runoff occurred in the monsoon season. A seasonal linear trend analysis was carried out to detect trends in the water balance components of the basin for the period 1973–2001. In the monsoon season, an increasing trend in rainfall and a decreasing trend in ET were observed; this resulted in an increasing trend in groundwater storage and surface runoff. The winter season followed almost the same pattern. A decreasing trend was observed in summer season rainfall. The study evokes the need for conservation structures in the study area to reduce monsoon runoff and conserve it for basin requirements in water-scarce seasons.

EDITOR Z.W. Kundzewicz

ASSOCIATE EDITOR F. Hattermann     

Interactions between groundwater and surface water in a virginia coastal plain watershed. 1. Hydrological flowpaths

A field study of surface water and groundwater interactions during baseflow and stormflow conditions was performed at the Reedy Creek watershed in the Virginia Coastal Plain. Three estimates of the average saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) of the unconfined aquifer were in reasonable agreement (ranging from 0.0033 to 0.010 cm/s), indicating that baseflow in the creek is entirely from the drainage of shallow groundwater from the relatively thin (1–6 m thick) unconfined aquifer. This relatively permeable surficial aquifer was found to be underlain by dark, olive grey, clay-silt and diatomaceous Miocene deposits of low permeability known as the Calvert Formation, which is believed to function as a confining bed in the area. A chemical hydrograph separation technique was used to resolve the contributions of [old] (pre-event) and [new] (event) water to stormflow. Results from a major rainstorm indicated that old water dominated the stormflow response of the watershed, although the new water contribution approached 40% at the hydrograph peak. Stormflow at Reedy Creek appears to result from saturation overland flow from variable source areas which include the stream channels and a significant part of the riparian wetland area. This response appears to be attributable to the transient dynamics of the shallow groundwater flow system and to the formation of localized groundwater mounds which raise the water-table to the wetland surface.     

Automated mapping of land components from digital elevation data

An algorithm for automating the mapping of land components from digital elevation data is described. Land components are areas of relatively uniform slope and aspect and often correspond with ridge crests, shoulders, head slopes, back slopes or foot slopes. Aspect regions, which generally span from stream to ridge, are first identified by generalizing an aspect map derived from digital elevation data. The aspect regions are then split successively into land components by grouping pixels above or below an automatically determined contour of elevation or ‘distance from stream’. The contour approximates a slope break. The land components mapped in this way give a complete polygonization of a hilly landscape and are a reasonable approximation of manually mapped land components.     

Hydrological impact of roadside ditches in an agricultural watershed in Central New York: implications for non‐point source pollutant transport

Nonpoint source pollution and hydromodification are the leading causes of impairment to our nation's rivers and streams. Roadside ditch networks, ubiquitous in both rural and urban landscapes, intercept and shunt substantial quantities of overland runoff and shallow groundwater to stream systems. By altering natural flowpaths, road ditches contribute not only to hydromodification but also potentially to nonpoint‐source (NPS) pollution by acting as hydrological links between agricultural fields and natural streams. Unfortunately, the impacts of these alterations on watershed hydrology and water quality are not well understood. Through a series of field measurements, including field surveys and discharge monitoring, this study examined the effect of road ditch networks on basin morphometry, field‐ and watershed‐scale hydrology, and pollutant transport in a 38 km² agricultural watershed in south‐central NY. Salient findings include the following: (i) 94% of road ditches discharged to natural streams, effectively doubling the drainage density; (ii) on average, road ditches increased peak and total event flows in their receiving streams by 78% and 57%, respectively, but displayed significant variation across ditches; and (iii) ditches intercepted large quantities of surface and subsurface runoff from agricultural fields and therefore represent efficient conduits for the transport of agricultural NPS pollutants to sensitive receiving waterbodies. Our results provide useful information for hydrologists who wish to further understand how artificial drainage may be affecting watershed hydrology and for managers and engineers tasked with designing appropriate flood and NPS pollution control measures. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of the mapping capabilities of ERS-1 SAR data for flood mapping: a case study in Germany

GAF examined, under contract to DARA (German Space Agency), the applicability of ERS-1 SAR data for flood mapping under operational conditions. The flood event investigated was the flooding in the Rhine valley in winter 1993–1994. In order to carry out an examination close to the end-user needs, the specific user requests concerning information about flood events were identified. The mapping accuracy in view of the flood extent and the flood level, the production of flood maps as well as the demonstration of the runoff turned out to be the most interesting points. The specific user information needs were considered in the project objectives to define the applicability as well as the deficits of ERS-1 data concerning an operational use for flood mapping. After a detailed analysis of the time aspects of the traditional mapping method and a satellite data analysis, a visual interpretation as well as an automatic classification were applied, including various filter steps to derive the flood boundary. As a result, the visual interpretation proved to be the more accurate method. Crucial domains for both the visual interpretation and the automatic classification turned out to be settlements, forests and bushes as well as regions with layover and foreshortening effects. The comparison between the flood level derived from satellite data and the flood level registered by the water authority boards brought a height difference which ranged between 0·5 and 2·0 m. The relatively coarse resolution and problems with correct interpretation of the flood line proved to be the reason for this difference. In general the results are convenient, but in relation to field measurements of the water level they are too inaccurate. A cost and benefit analysis as well as a proposal for an operational GIS system using ERS-1 SAR data are still under investigation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Digital mapping of riverine waterway hydrodynamic and geomorphic features

This paper proposes an innovative, non‐intrusive method for mapping waterway characteristics in riverine areas. The technique uses photogrammetry to provide quantitative information about the dry area in the vicinity of the waterways (banks and floodplain) and image processing algorithms to characterize the flow. Riverside images of a riverine area are decomposed into quasi‐planar areas and ortho‐rectified and re‐assembled to obtain a panoramic ortho‐view of the area of interest. Morphological features of interest (such as river bank positions, flood plain edges, mud deposits, vegetation and erosion patterns) are then identified on the ortho‐view and mapped digitally. Image sequences of the river flow are recorded, allowing a surface velocity analysis to be obtained through Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV). Finally, the mapped elements and the surface velocities are displayed together in a GIS‐like visualization. Through the presentation of a case study of a flood event at a culvert site, this paper demonstrates the capability of the technique to monitor characteristics of waterways over time. The method is inexpen‐sive (a conventional video or digital camera can be used), fast and requires minimum preparation. It can be applied in such important river‐related research areas as morphodynamic and sediment transport studies. It also fosters an improved understand‐ing of the coupling between the river and its banks, which is essential for river restoration and eco‐habitat studies. The present methodology is readily available for implementation in routine bridge inspections, fitted with an easy‐to‐use graphical interface. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

改良的数字化测图新方法

阐述了在地形复杂、地貌破碎、作业组较多时一种改良的数字化测图新方法的作业流程。该方法发挥了数字化测图的高精度高效率和模拟法测图善于处理勾绘复杂地貌等高线的长处，为针对不同情况制定合适的测图作业方案增加了一种选择。     

变化环境下珠江流域洪水频率变化特征、成因及影响(1951-2010年)

气候变化和人类活动导致珠江流域水文变化,变化前后洪水频率分布显著不同.运用滑动秩和(Mann-Whitney U test)结合Brown-Forsythe、滑动T、有序聚类和Mann-Kendall检验法,并用累积距平曲线法获取年最大流量序列详细信息,综合确定样本最佳变化节点,并对水文变化成因做了系统分析.在此基础上,对整体序列、变化前后序列用线性矩法推求广义极值分布参数以及不同重现期设计流量.结果表明:(1)西江大部以及北江流域最佳变化节点在1991年左右;东江流域最佳变化节点与该流域内3大控制性水库建成时间基本吻合;(2)变化后,西江、北江年最大流量持续增加,洪峰强度增大,尤其是西江干流年最大流量显著增加;东江流域年最大流量显著减小,洪峰强度降低;(3)变化后,西江与北江洪水风险增加,尤其是下游珠三角地区本身受人类活动显著影响,加之西江与北江持续增加的洪水强度,珠三角地区发生洪水的强度及频次加剧,而东江洪水风险减小.此研究对于珠江流域在变化环境下的洪水风险评估与防洪抗灾具有重要意义.     

太湖流域水文连通性:现状、研究进展与未来挑战

水文连通性作为连接河湖水体间物质、能量及信息传递与交换的关键纽带,对水环境、水生态和生境状况具有联动与触发反馈作用,已成为水文学、水利学和生态学等诸多领域的研究热点.太湖流域作为全国典型的流域性密集平原河网区,在快速城镇化背景下,河湖水文连通关系变化剧烈并引起了一系列生态环境效应.本文以水文连通性概念与内涵为背景,对太湖流域水文连通性研究进行了综述.太湖流域水文连通性评价方法以图论法、景观格局指数及水文连通性函数等方法联合使用为主,且聚焦于区域尺度研究;演变过程按人类活动影响强度大致划分为自然水系形成阶段、古代人类活动影响阶段和现代人类活动影响阶段;气候变化和人类活动共同影响着太湖流域水文连通性变化,近百年来水利工程建设和城市化进程等人类活动的影响尤为剧烈;良好的水文连通性有利于汛期减轻流域洪涝灾害及非汛期保障水资源供给,但水文连通性的提高对水环境和水生态的效应由于涉及因素众多尚存在争议.针对当前研究现状和存在问题,提出(1)平原河网区水文连通性的定量表征与评估是水文连通性研究的前提;(2)定量解析流域水文连通性的驱动机制是水文连通性研究的重点;(3)深入跟踪大型引水调水工程对流域水文连通影响及其效应是一项长期任务;(4)兼顾环境生态效应的水利工程生态化改造研究,开展工程控制背景下的流域水文连通多目标优化调控,是实现太湖流域洪水调蓄、水资源供给、水环境净化、生物多样性维持等生态系统服务协同提升的重要途径.     

Time series analysis of optical remote sensing data for the mapping of temporary surface water bodies in sub-Saharan western Africa

A map of temporary small water bodies (TSWB) at 1 km resolution was derived for the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions of sub-Saharan western Africa where the spatio-temporal distribution of actual surface water occurrence exhibits high inter- and intra-annual variability. Water bodies and humid areas have been mapped and characterized by the analysis of 10 daily small water bodies (SWB) maps based on SPOT VEGETATION (VGT) data spanning the period January 1999–September 2007. Further analysis of the SWB time series provided additional information about the seasonal recurrence of water bodies as well as their hydrological function. A map derived from a continuous time series assures the inclusion of temporary features, a clear advantage compared to other datasets, which are based on several single date observations. The method described in this paper targets at a rapid creation of TSWB maps based on the SWB time series for different time intervals and regions.An accuracy assessment has been carried out with a stratified random sampling approach and a one-stage cluster analysis that relies on high-resolution satellite data to verify the detected water bodies. The overall accuracy, considering only the commission error, is 95.4% for the whole study region, with best results in the arid and semi-arid climate zone. The method to map water bodies delivers satisfactory results, particularly for sparsely vegetated areas as well as flat areas of the study region. In more humid, more vegetated areas and in mountainous areas, the possibility of false detections increases due to surface characteristics.     

基于改进正则化方法的有限角度CT图像重建算法

本文提出了一种基于改进正则化方法的有限角度CT图像重建算法。该算法基于同伦映射的思想,改进了Tikhonov正则化方法。对于算法中的正则化参数,引入了一种下降速率可调的连续参数修正方法,有效地避免了由于试探正则化参数而带来的不便,从而提高了求解效率。实验结果表明,该方法可以快速地确定在该种条件下最优的正则化参数,进而得到较好的重建结果。     

一种综合地学数据的矿产资源潜力制图方法

研究适应信息化时代特征的矿产资源潜力制图新技术、新方法对推动矿产资源评价理论与技术的发展具有重要的意义.笔者把GIS技术、图像分类算法和空间统计学理论进行有机集成,在空间统计学的空间结构分析技术和遥感图像纹理分类算法的基础上,提出了一种以综合地学数据（地质、地球物理、地球化学和遥感图像数据等）为基本数据源的矿产资源潜力自动制图方法.该方法的技术流程为：①数据准备,即对地球物理和地球化学勘探数据进行预处理,生成一个物化遥综合图像文件;②图像空间结构性分析和纹理图像生成,以综合地学图像为研究对象,用空间统计学的结构分析技术研究地学数据综合图像的空间结构性,生成纹理图像;③纹理图像多元分类,用实验变差函数纹理分类方法对研究区进行多元分类,生成分类专题图;④分类后处理,用叠置分析修正空间分类结果,生成区域矿产资源潜力分布图.     

水文学与水力学相结合的南四湖洪水预报模型

南四湖流域是一个复杂的大流域，是东线南水北调的重要调节湖泊之一，也是干旱和洪水频繁流域．本文首先采 用分布式的新安江模型，对有实测流量资料的支流流域进行了模型参数率定，洪量预报达到了一定的精度，建立了南四湖 流域的洪水预报模型．采用一维、二维水力学模型并与水文学模型耦合进行上级湖的流量演进以及二级坝水利枢纽的 调度．