Uncertainty in remote sensing of streams using noncontact radars

JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY

卷:603

Article

Khan, Mushfiqur Rahman^1,2  Gourley, Jonathan J.³  Duarte, Jorge A.^2,3  Vergara, Humberto^2,3  Wasielewski, Daniel³  Ayral, Pierre-Alain⁴  Fulton, John W.⁵ 

[1] Univ Oklahoma, Sch Civil Engn & Environm Sci, Norman, OK 73019 USA

[2] Univ Oklahoma, Cooperat Inst Mesoscale Meteorol Studies, Norman, OK 73019 USA

[3] NOAA, Natl Severe Storms Lab, Norman, OK 73069 USA

[4] Univ Montpellier, Hydrosci Montpellier, CNRS, IMT Mines Ales,IRD, Ales, France

[5] US Geol Survey, Box 25046, Denver, CO 80225 USA

关键词: Flash floods;    Noncontact streamgauging;    Remote sensing;    Uncertainty estimation;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126809

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Accounting for freshwater resources and monitoring floods are vital functions for societies throughout the world. Remote-sensing methods offer great prospects to expand stream monitoring in developing countries and to smaller, headwater streams that are largely ungauged worldwide. This study evaluates the potential to estimate discharge using eight radar units that have been installed over streams in diverse hydrologic and hydraulic settings across the United States. The research highlights error characteristics associated with the measurements of stage using pulsed wave radars, mean channel velocity from continuous wave Doppler radars, and their combined use to estimate discharge at sites that were collocated with conventional streamgauges. Potential stage biases caused by the thermal expansion and contraction of supporting structures due to diurnal temperature changes were examined. A dry concrete, flume showed the temperature-dependent stage variations were no more than 2 cm. Surface velocity retrievals needed to be adjusted to represent the mean channel velocity when estimating discharge. Different approaches were evaluated and application of two different, depth-dependent adjustment factors was found to yield the most accurate estimates. This study found that it is possible to get accurate discharge estimates from noncontact radar measurements, providing cost-effective solutions for remote sensing of ungauged streams. Lastly, radar measurements of the raw variables (i.e., stage and surface velocity) can be used in an early alerting context to detect flash floods in ungauged streams.

【 授权许可】

Free