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Evaluating remote sensing data from the SWOT mission: monitoring water volume dynamics in lakes in Skåne, Sweden 2023-2024

Löbl Lopez, Laura LU (2025) In Student thesis series INES NGEK01 20251
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Abstract
Surface water fluctuations and lake storage has been severely impacted by climate change, causing severe flooding and drought events. Hence, monitoring the storage of lakes and reservoirs is of paramount importance to assess freshwater availability, to maintain a balance with the ecosystem and water use. This balance is important for sustainable water management in Sweden, which is reflected in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in the regulations for the country’s lakes. The monitoring of lakes in Sweden is applied only in some of the larger lakes, therefore remote sensing analysis can provide data on more lakes’ dynamics.
In-situ measurements have been used to research water volume dynamics, but satellite radar... (More)
Surface water fluctuations and lake storage has been severely impacted by climate change, causing severe flooding and drought events. Hence, monitoring the storage of lakes and reservoirs is of paramount importance to assess freshwater availability, to maintain a balance with the ecosystem and water use. This balance is important for sustainable water management in Sweden, which is reflected in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in the regulations for the country’s lakes. The monitoring of lakes in Sweden is applied only in some of the larger lakes, therefore remote sensing analysis can provide data on more lakes’ dynamics.
In-situ measurements have been used to research water volume dynamics, but satellite radar altimetry can help monitor these changes as it can be applied on a global scale. For validation of the satellite altimetry, estimated water changes can be evaluated by comparing altimetry results to in-situ measurements. Recent data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission (SWOT) show promising remote sensing analysis capabilities for hydrological research. Therefore, this thesis aims to monitor the water volume dynamics from 2023 to 2024 in the lakes Vombsjön and Västra & Östra Ringsjön from SWOT data and help strategic water planning. The method to calculate SWOT observed water volume changes is measured with the Taube method which quantifies volume of successive observations with area and water level computed from the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) results.
The results are then validated by a correlation on in-situ measurements from the stations in the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The storage change is calculated from the water balance equation, the difference between inflow and outflow of water. Some key findings are that the correlation between volume change in SWOT and SMHI in the three lakes are not very strong but when extracting outliers of SWOT, the correlation becomes quite strong. When correlating water level for lakes Vombsjön and Västra Ringsjön the correlation is also strong. In the estimated area from SMHI for lakes Vombsjön and Västra Ringsjön the correlation is not as strong when compared to the SWOT observations.
In conclusion, the correlation between the two methods to calculate volume change and the measurements show some relationship, including water level but the area of the lake do not have a strong correlation in the lakes. This reduced correlation is caused by SWOT accounting as part of the lake the flooded areas in the lakes, which is not captured in the measuring stations of SMHI but confirms the ability of SWOT data to provide information on the volume change during extreme events. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Löbl Lopez, Laura LU
supervisor
organization
course
NGEK01 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
remote sensing, SWOT, water volume, storage change, lake, Sweden, monitoring, surface water, climate change
publication/series
Student thesis series INES
report number
698
language
English
additional info
Paper in collaboration with Region Skåne and Sydvatten AB.
id
9201997
date added to LUP
2025-06-19 11:29:36
date last changed
2025-06-19 11:29:36
@misc{9201997,
  abstract     = {{Surface water fluctuations and lake storage has been severely impacted by climate change, causing severe flooding and drought events. Hence, monitoring the storage of lakes and reservoirs is of paramount importance to assess freshwater availability, to maintain a balance with the ecosystem and water use. This balance is important for sustainable water management in Sweden, which is reflected in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in the regulations for the country’s lakes. The monitoring of lakes in Sweden is applied only in some of the larger lakes, therefore remote sensing analysis can provide data on more lakes’ dynamics.
In-situ measurements have been used to research water volume dynamics, but satellite radar altimetry can help monitor these changes as it can be applied on a global scale. For validation of the satellite altimetry, estimated water changes can be evaluated by comparing altimetry results to in-situ measurements. Recent data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission (SWOT) show promising remote sensing analysis capabilities for hydrological research. Therefore, this thesis aims to monitor the water volume dynamics from 2023 to 2024 in the lakes Vombsjön and Västra & Östra Ringsjön from SWOT data and help strategic water planning. The method to calculate SWOT observed water volume changes is measured with the Taube method which quantifies volume of successive observations with area and water level computed from the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) results.
The results are then validated by a correlation on in-situ measurements from the stations in the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The storage change is calculated from the water balance equation, the difference between inflow and outflow of water. Some key findings are that the correlation between volume change in SWOT and SMHI in the three lakes are not very strong but when extracting outliers of SWOT, the correlation becomes quite strong. When correlating water level for lakes Vombsjön and Västra Ringsjön the correlation is also strong. In the estimated area from SMHI for lakes Vombsjön and Västra Ringsjön the correlation is not as strong when compared to the SWOT observations.
In conclusion, the correlation between the two methods to calculate volume change and the measurements show some relationship, including water level but the area of the lake do not have a strong correlation in the lakes. This reduced correlation is caused by SWOT accounting as part of the lake the flooded areas in the lakes, which is not captured in the measuring stations of SMHI but confirms the ability of SWOT data to provide information on the volume change during extreme events.}},
  author       = {{Löbl Lopez, Laura}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Student thesis series INES}},
  title        = {{Evaluating remote sensing data from the SWOT mission: monitoring water volume dynamics in lakes in Skåne, Sweden 2023-2024}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}