Satellite Video Remote Sensing for Estimation of River Discharge

Abstract

AbstractWe demonstrate that river discharge can be estimated by deriving water surface velocity estimates from satellite‐derived video imagery when combined with high‐resolution topography of channel geometry. Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) was used to map surface velocity from 28 s of 5 Hz satellite video acquired at a 1.2 m nominal ground spacing over the Darling River, Tilpa, Australia, during a 1‐in‐5‐year flood. We stabilized and assessed the uncertainty of the residual motion induced by the satellite platform, enhancing our sub‐pixel motion analysis, and quantified the sensitivity of image extraction rates on computed velocities. In the absence of in situ observations, LSPIV velocity estimates were validated against predictions from a calibrated 2D hydrodynamic model. Despite the confounding influence of selecting a surface velocity depth‐averaging coefficient, inference of discharge was within 0.3%–15% compared with gauging station measurements. These results provide a valuable foundation for refining satellite video LSPIV techniques.