Bridging the Data Gap: Validating Satellite-Derived Water Levels in Inland Waters with Varied Morphologies for Improved Water Management

Abstract Submission: Satellite altimetry has been in use for the past thirty years, and during this time, the precision of water level monitoring has significantly improved, not only due to advancements in technology but also because of substantial enhancements in algorithms and modeling approaches. Many validation studies have demonstrated the high accuracy and applicability of satellite data in regions with limited data availability. However, comprehensive validation of satellite data for inland waters across diverse topographies and morphologies is still lacking. This study aims to address this gap by assessing altimetry satellite data to monitor inland water bodies with distinct and varying characteristics. Three locations along the Indus River have been selected for this study: Tarbela Dam in the mountainous upper Indus Basin, Chasma Barrage in the central part of the basin, and Guddu and Sukkar Barrages in the lower Indus Basin. Manchar Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in South Asia, was included in the study to evaluate the potential of satellite data for monitoring natural lakes. Additionally, three locations along the Mekong River were selected to study the impact of dam operations on water level time series. The study also evaluated the effectiveness of altimetry data from Sentinel-3A and 3B in capturing sudden changes in these time series. Results demonstrated that the altimetry data showed reliable accuracy in the lower reaches with flatter topography, while in mountainous regions, the precision declined. To enhance performance in these areas, additional filtering techniques were required to mitigate the effects of distorted satellite signals.

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