Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission aims to improve the frequency and accuracy of global observations of river water surface elevations (WSEs) and slopes. As part of the SWOT mission, an airborne analog, AirSWOT, provides spatially29 distributed measurements of WSEs for r...

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Published in:Remote Sensing of Environment
Main Authors: Altenau, Elizabeth H., Pavelsky, Tamlin M., Moller, Delwyn, Pitcher, Lincoln H., Bates, Paul D., Durand, Michael T., Smith, Laurence C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1983/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/183969032/RSE_D_18_01202_Revision.pdf
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067958040&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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spelling ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f 2024-01-28T10:04:17+01:00 Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT Altenau, Elizabeth H. Pavelsky, Tamlin M. Moller, Delwyn Pitcher, Lincoln H. Bates, Paul D. Durand, Michael T. Smith, Laurence C. 2019-04-01 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1983/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/183969032/RSE_D_18_01202_Revision.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067958040&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Altenau , E H , Pavelsky , T M , Moller , D , Pitcher , L H , Bates , P D , Durand , M T & Smith , L C 2019 , ' Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT ' , Remote Sensing of Environment , vol. 224 , pp. 304-316 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002 Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) AirSWOT Remote sensing Tanana River Multichannel rivers Arctic hydrology article 2019 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002 2024-01-04T23:58:46Z The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission aims to improve the frequency and accuracy of global observations of river water surface elevations (WSEs) and slopes. As part of the SWOT mission, an airborne analog, AirSWOT, provides spatially29 distributed measurements of WSEs for river reaches tens to hundreds of kilometers in length. For the first time, we demonstrate the ability of AirSWOT to consistently measure temporal dynamics in river WSE and slope. We evaluate data from six AirSWOT flights conducted 32 between June 7-22, 2015 along a ~90 km reach of the Tanana River, AK. To validate AirSWOT measurements, we compare AirSWOT WSEs and slopes against an in situ network of 12 pressure transducers (PTs). Assuming error-free in situ data, AirSWOT measurements of river WSEs have an overall root mean square difference (RMSD) of 11.8 cm when averaged over 1 km2 areas whilst measurements of river surface slope have an RMSD of 1.6 cm/km for reach lengths >5 km. AirSWOT is also capable of recording accurate river WSE changes between flight dates, with an RMSD of 9.8 cm. Regrettably, observed in situ slope changes that transpired between the six flights are well below AirSWOT’s accuracy, limiting the evaluation of AirSWOT’s ability to capture temporal changes in slope. In addition to validating the direct AirSWOT measurements, we compare discharge values calculated via Manning’s equation using AirSWOT WSEs and slopes to discharge values calculated using PT WSEs and slopes. We define or calibrate the remaining discharge parameters using a combination of in situ and remotely sensed observations, and we hold these remaining parameters constant between the two types of calculations to evaluate the impact of using AirSWOT versus the PT observations of WSE and slope. Results indicate that AirSWOT-derived discharge estimates are similar to the PT-derived discharge estimates, with an RMSD of 13.8%. Additionally, 42% of the AirSWOT-based discharge estimates fall within the PT discharge estimates’ ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic University of Bristol: Bristol Research Arctic Remote Sensing of Environment 224 304 316
institution Open Polar
collection University of Bristol: Bristol Research
op_collection_id ftubristolcris
language English
topic Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)
AirSWOT
Remote sensing
Tanana River
Multichannel rivers
Arctic hydrology
spellingShingle Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)
AirSWOT
Remote sensing
Tanana River
Multichannel rivers
Arctic hydrology
Altenau, Elizabeth H.
Pavelsky, Tamlin M.
Moller, Delwyn
Pitcher, Lincoln H.
Bates, Paul D.
Durand, Michael T.
Smith, Laurence C.
Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT
topic_facet Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)
AirSWOT
Remote sensing
Tanana River
Multichannel rivers
Arctic hydrology
description The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission aims to improve the frequency and accuracy of global observations of river water surface elevations (WSEs) and slopes. As part of the SWOT mission, an airborne analog, AirSWOT, provides spatially29 distributed measurements of WSEs for river reaches tens to hundreds of kilometers in length. For the first time, we demonstrate the ability of AirSWOT to consistently measure temporal dynamics in river WSE and slope. We evaluate data from six AirSWOT flights conducted 32 between June 7-22, 2015 along a ~90 km reach of the Tanana River, AK. To validate AirSWOT measurements, we compare AirSWOT WSEs and slopes against an in situ network of 12 pressure transducers (PTs). Assuming error-free in situ data, AirSWOT measurements of river WSEs have an overall root mean square difference (RMSD) of 11.8 cm when averaged over 1 km2 areas whilst measurements of river surface slope have an RMSD of 1.6 cm/km for reach lengths >5 km. AirSWOT is also capable of recording accurate river WSE changes between flight dates, with an RMSD of 9.8 cm. Regrettably, observed in situ slope changes that transpired between the six flights are well below AirSWOT’s accuracy, limiting the evaluation of AirSWOT’s ability to capture temporal changes in slope. In addition to validating the direct AirSWOT measurements, we compare discharge values calculated via Manning’s equation using AirSWOT WSEs and slopes to discharge values calculated using PT WSEs and slopes. We define or calibrate the remaining discharge parameters using a combination of in situ and remotely sensed observations, and we hold these remaining parameters constant between the two types of calculations to evaluate the impact of using AirSWOT versus the PT observations of WSE and slope. Results indicate that AirSWOT-derived discharge estimates are similar to the PT-derived discharge estimates, with an RMSD of 13.8%. Additionally, 42% of the AirSWOT-based discharge estimates fall within the PT discharge estimates’ ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Altenau, Elizabeth H.
Pavelsky, Tamlin M.
Moller, Delwyn
Pitcher, Lincoln H.
Bates, Paul D.
Durand, Michael T.
Smith, Laurence C.
author_facet Altenau, Elizabeth H.
Pavelsky, Tamlin M.
Moller, Delwyn
Pitcher, Lincoln H.
Bates, Paul D.
Durand, Michael T.
Smith, Laurence C.
author_sort Altenau, Elizabeth H.
title Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT
title_short Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT
title_full Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT
title_fullStr Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT
title_full_unstemmed Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT
title_sort temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by airswot
publishDate 2019
url https://hdl.handle.net/1983/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/3230e710-b7ce-445a-93f4-9ca950946f6f
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002
https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/183969032/RSE_D_18_01202_Revision.pdf
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067958040&partnerID=8YFLogxK
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
genre_facet Arctic
op_source Altenau , E H , Pavelsky , T M , Moller , D , Pitcher , L H , Bates , P D , Durand , M T & Smith , L C 2019 , ' Temporal variations in river water surface elevation and slope captured by AirSWOT ' , Remote Sensing of Environment , vol. 224 , pp. 304-316 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.002
container_title Remote Sensing of Environment
container_volume 224
container_start_page 304
op_container_end_page 316
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