Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Estimation of reservoir discharges from Lake Nasser and Roseires Reservoir in the Nile Basin using satellite altimetry and imagery data

Muala, Eric ; Mohamed, Yasir A. ; Duan, Zheng LU and van der Zaag, Pieter (2014) In Remote Sensing 6(8). p.7522-7545
Abstract

This paper presents the feasibility of estimating discharges from RoseiresReservoir (Sudan) for the period from 2002 to 2010 and Aswan High Dam/Lake Nasser(Egypt) for the periods 1999-2002 and 2005-2009 using satellite altimetry and imagerywith limited in situ data. Discharges were computed using the water balance of thereservoirs. Rainfall and evaporation data were obtained from public domain data sources.In situ measurements of inflow and outflow (for validation) were obtained, as well. Theother water balance components, such as the water level and surface area, for derivation ofthe change of storage volume were derived from satellite measurements. Water levels wereobtained from Hydroweb for Roseires Reservoir and Hydroweb and Global... (More)

This paper presents the feasibility of estimating discharges from RoseiresReservoir (Sudan) for the period from 2002 to 2010 and Aswan High Dam/Lake Nasser(Egypt) for the periods 1999-2002 and 2005-2009 using satellite altimetry and imagerywith limited in situ data. Discharges were computed using the water balance of thereservoirs. Rainfall and evaporation data were obtained from public domain data sources.In situ measurements of inflow and outflow (for validation) were obtained, as well. Theother water balance components, such as the water level and surface area, for derivation ofthe change of storage volume were derived from satellite measurements. Water levels wereobtained from Hydroweb for Roseires Reservoir and Hydroweb and Global Reservoir andLake Monitor (GRLM) for Lake Nasser. Water surface areas were derived from LandsatTM/ETM+ images using the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). The watervolume variations were estimated by integrating the area-level relationship of eachreservoir. For Roseires Reservoir, the water levels from Hydroweb agreed well with in situwater levels (RMSE = 0.92 m; R2 = 0.96). Good agreement with in situ measurements werealso obtained for estimated water volume (RMSE = 23%; R2 = 0.94) and computeddischarge (RMSE = 18%; R2 = 0.98). The accuracy of the computed dischargewas considered acceptable for typical reservoir operation applications. For Lake Nasser,the altimetry water levels also agreed well with in situ levels, both for Hydroweb(RMSE = 0.72 m; R2 = 0.81) and GRLM (RMSE = 0.62 m; R2 = 0.96) data. Similaragreements were also observed for the estimated water volumes (RMSE = 10%-15%).However, the estimated discharge from satellite data agreed poorly with observeddischarge, Hydroweb (RMSE = 70%; R2 = 0.09) and GRLM (RMSE = 139%; R2 = 0.36).The error could be attributed to the high sensitivity of discharge to errors in storage volumebecause of the immense reservoir compared to inflow/outflow series. It may also be relatedto unaccounted spills into the Toshka Depression, overestimation of water inflow anderrors in open water evaporation. Therefore, altimetry water levels and satellite imagerydata can be used as a source of information for monitoring the operation of RoseiresReservoir with a fairly low uncertainty, while the errors of Lake Nasser are too large toallow for the monitoring of its operation.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Lake Nasser, Landsat, Nile Basin, Reservoir discharge, Roseires Reservoir, Satellite altimetry
in
Remote Sensing
volume
6
issue
8
pages
24 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:84912059459
ISSN
2072-4292
DOI
10.3390/rs6087522
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
35466bea-d6c5-40a8-9dc8-6ffcf75096f8
date added to LUP
2019-12-22 20:32:14
date last changed
2022-04-02 23:41:25
@article{35466bea-d6c5-40a8-9dc8-6ffcf75096f8,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper presents the feasibility of estimating discharges from RoseiresReservoir (Sudan) for the period from 2002 to 2010 and Aswan High Dam/Lake Nasser(Egypt) for the periods 1999-2002 and 2005-2009 using satellite altimetry and imagerywith limited in situ data. Discharges were computed using the water balance of thereservoirs. Rainfall and evaporation data were obtained from public domain data sources.In situ measurements of inflow and outflow (for validation) were obtained, as well. Theother water balance components, such as the water level and surface area, for derivation ofthe change of storage volume were derived from satellite measurements. Water levels wereobtained from Hydroweb for Roseires Reservoir and Hydroweb and Global Reservoir andLake Monitor (GRLM) for Lake Nasser. Water surface areas were derived from LandsatTM/ETM+ images using the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). The watervolume variations were estimated by integrating the area-level relationship of eachreservoir. For Roseires Reservoir, the water levels from Hydroweb agreed well with in situwater levels (RMSE = 0.92 m; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.96). Good agreement with in situ measurements werealso obtained for estimated water volume (RMSE = 23%; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.94) and computeddischarge (RMSE = 18%; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.98). The accuracy of the computed dischargewas considered acceptable for typical reservoir operation applications. For Lake Nasser,the altimetry water levels also agreed well with in situ levels, both for Hydroweb(RMSE = 0.72 m; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.81) and GRLM (RMSE = 0.62 m; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.96) data. Similaragreements were also observed for the estimated water volumes (RMSE = 10%-15%).However, the estimated discharge from satellite data agreed poorly with observeddischarge, Hydroweb (RMSE = 70%; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.09) and GRLM (RMSE = 139%; R<sup>2</sup> = 0.36).The error could be attributed to the high sensitivity of discharge to errors in storage volumebecause of the immense reservoir compared to inflow/outflow series. It may also be relatedto unaccounted spills into the Toshka Depression, overestimation of water inflow anderrors in open water evaporation. Therefore, altimetry water levels and satellite imagerydata can be used as a source of information for monitoring the operation of RoseiresReservoir with a fairly low uncertainty, while the errors of Lake Nasser are too large toallow for the monitoring of its operation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Muala, Eric and Mohamed, Yasir A. and Duan, Zheng and van der Zaag, Pieter}},
  issn         = {{2072-4292}},
  keywords     = {{Lake Nasser; Landsat; Nile Basin; Reservoir discharge; Roseires Reservoir; Satellite altimetry}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{7522--7545}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Remote Sensing}},
  title        = {{Estimation of reservoir discharges from Lake Nasser and Roseires Reservoir in the Nile Basin using satellite altimetry and imagery data}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs6087522}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/rs6087522}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}