Hydrological Sciences Journal

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Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal

open channel using QuickBird-2 satellite imagery/
Utilisation des images satellites de Quickbird-2
pour le calcul des débits fluviaux en chenaux
ouverts non-trapézoïdaux

Jiqun Zhang , Kaiqin Xu , Masataka Watanabe , Yonghui Yang & Xiuwan Chen

To cite this article: Jiqun Zhang , Kaiqin Xu , Masataka Watanabe , Yonghui Yang & Xiuwan
Chen (2004) Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel using QuickBird-2
satellite imagery/Utilisation des images satellites de Quickbird-2 pour le calcul des débits fluviaux
en chenaux ouverts non-trapézoïdaux, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 49:2, -260, DOI: 10.1623/
hysj.49.2.247.34831

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.49.2.247.34831

Published online: 15 Dec 2009.

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 Hydrological Sciences–Journal–des Sciences Hydrologiques, 49(2) April 2004 247

Estimation of river discharge from non-

trapezoidal open channel using QuickBird-2
satellite imagery

JIQUN ZHANG1,2, KAIQIN XU1, MASATAKA WATANABE1,

YONGHUI YANG1 & XIUWAN CHEN3
1 Watershed Management Research Team, National Institute for Environmental Studies,
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
2 Water Resources Management Centre, Ministry of Water Resources, Beijing 100053, China
zhang.jiqun@nies.go.jp, zhangjiqun@yahoo.com
3 Institute of Remote Sensing and GIS, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Abstract River discharge is traditionally acquired by measuring water stage and then
converting the water stage to discharge by using a stage–discharge rating curve. The
possibility of monitoring river discharge by satellite has not been adequately studied
hitherto, because of the difficulty in making sufficiently precise measurements of the
water surface. Since the successful launch of commercial satellites with very-high-
resolution sensors, it has become possible to derive ground information from satellite
data. To determine river discharge in a non-trapezoidal open channel, an efficient
approach has been developed that uses mainly satellite data. The method, which
focuses on the measurement of surface water width coupled with river width–stage
and “remote” stage–discharge rating curves, was applied to the Yangtze River
(Changjiang) and an accurate estimate of river discharge was obtained. The method
can be regarded as ancillary to traditional field measurement methods or other remote
sensing methods.
Key words river discharge; water stage; QuickBird-2 satellite; very-high-resolution imagery;
Yangtze River (Changjiang), China
Utilisation des images satellites de Quickbird-2 pour le calcul des
débits fluviaux en chenaux ouverts non-trapézoïdaux
Résumé Le débit d’une rivière est traditionnellement obtenu à partir de la mesure de
la hauteur d’eau, puis de sa conversion en débit grâce à une courbe de tarage hauteur-
débit. La possibilité de suivre par satellite les débits en rivières n’a, jusqu’à présent,
pas été suffisamment envisagée, en raison de la difficulté de réaliser des mesures assez
précises de la surface de l’eau. Depuis la mise en orbite de satellites commerciaux
disposant de capteurs à très haute résolution, il est devenu possible de déduire des
informations au sol à partir de données satellitales. Nous avons développé une
méthode performante pour déterminer le débit dans un chenal ouvert non-trapézoïdal,
qui s’appuie essentiellement sur des données satellitales. Cette méthode s’appuie sur
la mesure de la largeur du plan d’eau, sur des courbes largeur-hauteur, et sur des
courbes hauteur-débit obtenues par télédétection. Elle a été appliquée au fleuve
Yangtzé (Changjiang) et a permis d’obtenir une estimation précise du débit. La
méthode peut être considérée comme complémentaire des méthodes traditionnelles de
mesure in situ, ou d’autres méthodes de télédétection.
Mots clefs débit de rivière; hauteur d’eau; satellite Quickbird-2; imagerie à très haute
résolution; fleuve Yangtzé (Changjiang), Chine

INTRODUCTION

River discharge and lake and wetland storage of water are essential components of the
surface water balance (Alsdorf et al., 2003). Currently, river discharge is routinely

Open for discussion until 1 October 2004

248 Jiqun Zhang et al.

estimated by directly observing the water level in the field, and converting stage into
discharge with the help of a rating curve. Despite the importance of river discharge
information, any comprehensive stage monitoring network faces numerous techno-
logical, economic and institutional obstacles. For many rivers, discharge measurements
are either nonexistent or not readily available. This is especially true in developing
countries, for which the cost of establishing and maintaining a dense network of
streamgauges is prohibitively costly (Vörösmarty et al., 1999). The potential of remote
sensing to provide information to hydrologists and water resource practitioners has
long been recognized (Usachev, 1983; Koblinsky et al., 1993). The increasing number
of satellites and airborne platforms make it possible to measure and evaluate large
numbers of physical characteristics and variables of drainage basins (Brakenridge et
al., 1994; Birkett, 1995, 1998; Al-Khudhairy et al., 2001). The ability to monitor rivers
by satellite will become increasingly valuable and important to scientists attempting to
understand rivers and the hydrological cycle. Cheng (2000), a researcher from the
Hydro-21 Committee expressed the opinion that future river discharge measurement
must be made by remote or non-contact methods. More detailed discussion can be
found in the references (Schultz, 1996; Smith, 1997; Fekete & Vörösmarty, 2002:
Bjerklie et al., 2003).
However, as far as the authors are aware, only a few studies have attempted to use
remote sensing data to estimate discharge. Smith et al. (1995, 1996) estimated river
discharge in remote, braided, glacial rivers from water-surface area derived from
ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. Their studies correlated water surface area
in braided reaches with ground-measured discharge to derive power function discharge
ratings that use “effective width” (water-surface area divided by the reach length) as
the predictor. Besides broad braided river systems, this approach may be effective in
other large rivers where any changes in water height yield corresponding changes in
surface water area and significant changes in discharge. By the use of ground-based
meteorological station data, horizontally and vertically polarized temperature differ-
ences from the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) aboard the
Nimbus-7 satellite, and a calibrated water balance/water transport model, Vörösmarty
et al. (1996) demonstrated the potential for using the relatively coarse-resolution
remotely-sensed data to infer the discharge dynamics of large river systems. By using
ground-penetrating radar and pulsed Doppler radar to measure channel cross-sectional
area and surface velocity, respectively, Costa et al. (2000) carried out non-contact,
open-channel discharge measurements. In the authors’ opinion, open channel
discharge can be measured reliably by non-contact methods, if adequate further refine-
ments are achieved. Dana et al. (2002) used a time series of AVHRR (Advanced Very
High Resolution Radiometer) temperature data to develop a temperature area index
(TAI) for predicting diurnal and seasonal streamflow in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica.
They were able to predict diurnal discharge to within 87–128% of the actual flow for
their basin within the dry valley region. Zhang et al. (2002) reported on an approach to
estimate river discharge by using mainly very-high-resolution (VHR) satellite data
coupled with ground-measured data. Their study showed the potential of discharge
measurement using VHR satellite data over a trapezoidal river channel.
To date, most studies have not shown the general applicability of using satellite-
based remotely-sensed data to estimate discharge or to track flow conditions. These
techniques are still largely in their early stage and should be improved continuously.
 Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel 249

On the basis of previous studies, three possible approaches to estimating river

discharge from satellite-based data can be summarized as follows:
(a) With the help of a hydraulic equation, or rating equation, estimate river discharge
from the measurement of hydraulic variables from satellite and/or other remotely
obtained information.
(b) Measure water level variation by using radar altimeter data or the interferometric
radar technique and then convert it to river discharge on the basis of a rating curve
between satellite-derived “water level” and ground-measured discharge.
(c) Correlate satellite-derived water surface areas with ground measurements of
discharge, and then infer river discharge from satellite data on the basis of the
water area–discharge rating curve.
The first approach has been pointed out by several researchers (e.g. Koblinsky et al.,
1993) and extensively discussed by Bjerklie et al. (2003). Hydraulic data obtained
from satellite and other remote sources offer the possibility of estimating river
discharge. An approach that could estimate river discharge from remotely obtained
hydraulic data without ground-based measurements would be most attractive. So far,
few such studies have been reported, owing to the restrictions of current sensors. For
example, the average depth and average cross-sectional velocity, which are key
hydrographic variables for calculating river discharge, are still not directly measured
from satellite or other remote data sources. The estimation of discharge from satellite
data therefore require the use of ground-based empirical relations between discharge
and satellite-derived water information.
Centimetre-scale water level changes can be derived from the second approach
(Birkett, 1998; Alsdorf et al., 2000). However, the complicated process (interfero-
metric radar technique) and large footprint size (e.g. the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter
has a 3–5-km footprint size) usually limit their wider applicability.
One major obstacle to the third approach is that a large number of satellite images
is required in order to construct an empirical rating curve between satellite-derived
water information and river discharge. Since the launch of the IKONOS satellite in
1999, and especially the QuickBird-2 satellite in 2001, satellite images with very high
ground resolution (1-m scale) have been commercially available. Table 1 gives some
specifications of QuickBird-2 satellite imagery. These images make detailed Earth
observations feasible in a way not provided by other medium- to small-scale images
such as those from Landsat and SPOT. It is now possible for hydrologists to tackle
previously unsolved questions; for example, measurement of surface water width by
VHR satellite imagery, and conversion to river discharge on the basis of rating curves.

Table 1 Specifications of QuickBird-2 satellite imagery.

Item Feature Item Feature
Orbit altitude 450 km Panchromatic pixel 0.61m (nadir)
Revisit time 1–5 days Panchromatic range 450–900 nm
Field of regard ±30 degrees Multispectral pixel 2.44 m (nadir)
Scene size: Multispectral range:
Snapshot 16.5 × 16.5 km2 Blue 450–520 nm
Area 32 × 32 km2 Green 520–600 nm
Strip 16.5 × 165 km2 Red 630–690 nm
NIR 760–900 nm
250 Jiqun Zhang et al.

This idea has led to development of a general procedure to estimate river discharge
from VHR satellite data. It is effective for trapezoidal open channels where small
changes in depth produce corresponding changes in surface water width, and involved
rating curves could be determined. However, it may not be practical or possible when
the river channel shapes are non-trapezoidal (e.g. with very steep segments of the
profile), where a variation in depth does not produce changes in surface water width.
Water stage can be related to river discharge at a different site in the same river by
flood routing techniques or other approaches (Birkhead & James, 1998). This method
allows one to monitor river discharge in a non-trapezoidal river channel (or a remote or
inaccessible site). A technique to estimate discharge mainly from VHR satellite
imagery, described in this paper, has been validated in the Yangtze River in China.

METHODOLOGY

River discharge at different sites of the same river can be related by a variety of flood
routing approaches. To determine river discharge in a cross-section of interest, of a
non-trapezoidal open channel (hereafter called the target site), the first key step is
selecting a suitable site (monitoring site) where the riverbank is ideally shaped to allow
surface water width to be determined from satellite data, and the surface water width or
water stage at that site can be converted to the river discharge at a site with a non-
trapezoidal open channel.
So far, considering the cost of satellite images, it has been impossible to relate
local discharge directly to “remote” surface water width derived from VHR satellite
images (even if rapid developments in satellite technology and the application of
remote sensing technology may change this situation), However, for almost all
medium to large rivers, historical water stage data and river discharge data have been
conserved, and the corresponding river channel geometry is measured and regularly
updated. This information forms the basis for estimating discharge from satellite data.
The approach can be summarized as follows (Fig. 1):
(a) From historical data, construct a “remote” relationship between discharge at the
target site and water stage at the monitoring site where the riverbank geometry is
suitable.
(b) Construct a relationship between surface water width and water stage according to
hydrological data or river channel geometry at the monitoring site.
(c) Identify and measure surface water width at the monitoring site from QuickBird-2
imagery.
(d) Convert satellite-derived surface water width to water stage, based on step (b).
(e) Convert water stage to river discharge at the target site, based on step (a).
Once the “remote” relationship between river discharge and river stage and the
relationship between river stage and surface water width at the monitoring site have
been established, they can be used to estimate river discharge from satellite data
directly. The crucial step is to determine the surface water width with satisfactory
precision. Until VHR satellite data are acquired, implementation of this approach is of
limited utility. The expected accuracy of this method is mainly subject to the resolution
of the satellite imagery and the (“remote”) rating curve used to convert satellite-
derived information to river discharge.
 Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel 251

Quickbird-2 imagery

Georectification and projection conversion

Identify Measurement
Satellite-derived surface water width

Water width and stage rating

curve or river channel geometry

Water stage

Remote stage–discharge rating curve

River discharge

Fig. 1 Flowchart of the proposed method for estimating river discharge.

It may be possible to improve this method: if the local stage–discharge relationship

can be expressed as a simple mathematical function, then the local discharge can be
expressed in terms of local stage, and a routing model can be used to convert local
stage to “remote” discharge at the target site, accounting for lag time and attenuation
of discharge between the local and the target sites. The routing model can be broadly
classified into two categories: (a) those that use hydrodynamic routing; and (b) those
that use hydrological routing methodology. The hydrodynamic routing approach is
based on Saint Venant equations: a continuity (conservation of mass) equation and a
nonlinear equation of conservation of momentum (e.g. Berker & Serban, 1990). The
hydrological routing approach is based on a lumped form of the continuity equation in
the Saint Venant formulation, but empirical relationships are used to replace the
momentum equation (e.g. Cunge, 1969; Dooge et al., 1982), such as the Muskingum
(or Muskingum–Cunge), and linear reservoirs methods. These approaches are difficult
and time-consuming, and much other hydraulic information is necessary. However,
they may improve the precision when water stage at the monitoring site is converted to
river discharge at the site of the non-trapezoidal open channel.

CASE STUDY IN THE YANGTZE RIVER

Study area

The Yangtze River (Changjiang), the largest river in China and third largest in the
world, originates in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and flows eastwards to the East China
Sea. Two sites were selected in the middle reach of the river (Fig. 2) to validate the
proposed method.
Hankou hydrological station (114°17′E, 30°35′N) is located in Wuhan city in the
main stream of the Yangtze River. The drainage area above Hankou hydrological
station is about 1.488 × 106 km2. The highest flood discharge so far measured in
Hankou is 76 100 m3 s-1, measured on 14 August 1954; the highest water stage is
29.73 m, measured on 18 August 1954. The control cross-section of Hankou
252 Jiqun Zhang et al.

Fig. 2 Location of study sites on the Yangtze River.

26

24

22
Water stage(m)

20

18

16

14

12
1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750
Surface-water width(m)
Fig. 3 Relationship between water stage and surface-water stage in Wuhanguan.

hydrological station is located in the Wuhanguan section. The riverbank of this section
has been controlled to prevent flooding of nearby Wuhan, one of China’s largest cities
 Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel 253

with a population of 5 million. The Wuhanguan section is a straight river channel with a
little bend. Figure 3 shows the relationship between water stage and surface water width
in the section. One can see in Fig. 3 that a given surface water width may correspond to
a range of water stage data. Obviously, because the river has a non-trapezoidal open
channel, it is impossible to infer water stage exactly from surface water width.
Luoshan (113°19′E, 29°40′N) is located in the middle reach of the Yangtze River,
about 209 km upstream from Wuhan city. Almost every year, the area is visited by
floodwaters. The drainage area above Luoshan hydrological station is about 1.296 ×
106 km2. The riverbank of the Luoshan section is shown in Fig. 4. According to
historical data, in an ordinary year the discharge ranges from approximately 0.45 to 6 ×
104 m3 s-1, and water stage changes from 17.9 to 35 m. In this section, the river channel
is trapezoidal, so it is possible to derive water stage from surface water width.

40
35
Elevation of Riverbed (m)

30
(a) 25
20
15
10
5 a
0
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
Cross Channel Distance (m)
35
H = -3.2016E-07B3 + 1.5633E-03B2 - 2.4799B + 1.302.6
30
Water stage (m)

(b)
25

20
b
15
1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700
Surface water width (m)
Fig. 4 (a) Cross-sectional geometry, and (b) water surface width–stage rating curve, in
Luoshan section.

“Remote” relationship between water stage in Luoshan section and discharge in

Wuhanguan section

The huge Yangtze River basin is drained by numerous tributaries. The Hanjiang is one
of the major tributaries, joining the Yangtze River between Wuhanguan and Luoshan.
Nianpanshan hydrological station is the last hydrological station before the Hanjiang
River joins the Yangtze River. Historical recorded data (Hong, 1998) indicate that the
annual mean discharge and runoff in Nianpanshan hydrological station are 1710 m3 s-1
254 Jiqun Zhang et al.

and 5.17×1010 m3, respectively. The annual mean discharge and runoff at Hankou
hydrological station are 2.3 × 104 m3 s-1 and 7.51 × 1011 m3. Thus, only 7% of the
water in the Wuhanguan (Hankou) section of the Yangtze River comes from the
Hanjiang River. As most of the water comes from the Luoshan direction of the main
stream of the Yangtze River, it is reasonable to relate water stage at Luoshan and
discharge at Wuhanguan (Hankou). The following steps were used to undertake that
conversion:
• Determine surface water width using QuickBird-2 imagery in Luoshan section.
• Convert satellite-derived surface water width to water stage on basis of river
width–stage rating curve or river channel geometry in Luoshan section.
• Convert water stage in Luoshan section to discharge in Wuhanguan section
according to “remote” stage–discharge rating curve.
According to field measured data, the mean flow velocity in this section of the
Yangtze River is about 2–3 m s-1. The flow time from Luoshan to Wuhanguan is about
19–29 h. A lag time of 24 h was selected. It was found that the stage–discharge rating
curves have changed frequently in recent years, so the rating curves must be
constructed and updated from new data instead of historical data. A total of four years
(1 January 1998–31 December 2001) of water stage in Luoshan and discharge data in
Wuhanguan were acquired. The correlation between H (water stage in Luoshan) and Q
(discharge in Wuhanguan) is plotted in Fig. 5. The most suitable power function is:
Q = 0.1365H3.7138 (R2 = 0.99, lag time = 24 h) (1)
2
As this “remote” relationship is very good (R = 0.99), it can be used to convert river
water stage in Luoshan to river discharge in Wuhanguan.

80000
Discharge in Wuhanguan (m /s)

70000
3

3.7138
60000 Q = 0.1365H
2
50000 (R = 0.99, lag = 24h)
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
0 10 20 30 40
Water stage in Luoshan section (m)
Fig. 5 Remote rating curve between water stage in Luoshan and discharge in
Wuhanguan.

River channel geometry in the Luoshan control cross-section

To convert satellite measurement data into discharge data, it is essential to measure the
geometry of the river channel or to determine the relationship between surface water
width and water stage. From the cross-section geometry at Luoshan, the channel
 Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel 255

width-to-depth ratio is constant in the stage range between 17.8 and 31.15 m, but
changes outside that range. From the cross-section geometry, one can construct a
width-stage rating curve (Fig. 4) to convert water surface width to water stage.

Identification and measurement of surface water width from satellite imagery

A scene of QuickBird-2 standard imagery (centred at 113.3237°E, 29.6547°N) was

acquired on 3 November 2002 (Fig. 6). The specifications of this scene image are
listed in Table 2. Extracting quantitative water information from imagery is a critical
step in estimating discharge. After the control cross-section from the QuickBird-2
imagery was identified, two points, where the cross-section line intersects the river’s
edges, were identified from the QuickBird-2 imagery. The distance between these two
points is the water surface width (B), which was measured with the help of tools in
ERDAS Imagine. The water surface width on the image is 1587 m.

(a) (b)

(d) (c)

Fig. 6 (a) QuickBird-2 satellite image; (b) control cross-section on the left river bank;
(c) zoom of the left river bank on the control cross-section; and (d) left river bank in
the Luoshan control section of the Yangtze River.

Estimating river discharge and comparing it with ground-measured discharge

The corresponding water stage (H) was calculated from the river width–stage rating
curve as 24.7 m. From equation (1), the water stage was converted to a discharge:
Q = 20 292 m3 s-1.
256 Jiqun Zhang et al.

Table 2 Specifications of the QuickBird-2 image used to estimate discharge.

Item Features Item Features
Acquisition time (GMT) 2002-11-03 T03:08:14 Satellite azimuth 157.478
Collected GSD 0.61(m) Satellite elevation 86.534
Centre position 113.3237°E; 29.6547°N In track view angle –2.629
Sun azimuth 159.291 Cross track view angle 1.632
Sun elevation 43.075 image quality Excellent
Projection UTM Product level LV2A

From Table 2, it is known that the acquisition time (GMT) of this satellite image
was 03:08 h, 3 November 2002. Considering the lag time (24 h), the satellite-derived
discharge in the Hankou section of the Yangtze River at 03:08 h, 4 November 2002,
was 20 292 m3 s-1. River discharge data were also collected from the Hankou
hydrological station. The measured discharge at 00:00 h (GMT), 4 November 2002,
was 21 400 m3 s-1. The error is less than 5.2%. Comparison of satellite-derived
discharge and ground-measured discharge shows that the proposed method can
estimate discharge satisfactorily.

Result analysis and improvement

The spatial resolutions of most of the current satellite imagery data are too coarse to
determine a detailed water-edge line for discharge estimation purposes. However, the
VHR QuickBird-2 imagery could provide a good basis for identifying and monitoring
water-related structural changes. That made the proposed approach reliable and easily
applicable for estimation of discharges. Although the satellite-derived discharge
matched the field-measured discharge very well, potential sources of error must be
addressed:

Systematic error of “remote” water stage–discharge rating curve To develop a

rating curve, a series of measured discharge data are plotted against the accompanying
water stage, and a smooth curve is drawn through these points. There can be
significant scatter around this curve. Because of this, when using a rating curve, it is
good to keep in mind that the discharge read from the curve is the most likely value,
but it could be a little different from the measured value, particularly in the Yangtze
River. Owing to the complicated hydraulic system in the Yangtze River, error exists in
the conversion of water stage value to river discharge from the curve. To find out the
possible conversion error range from water stage in Luoshan to river discharge in
Wuhanguan, two years (1998 and 1999) of hydrological data were selected and a
subset constructed by selecting the water stage record in Luoshan on the first day of
every month and the river discharge record in Wuhanguan on the second day of every
month. From equation (1), water stages were converted to river discharge. The results
are compared in Table 3, which shows that all calculated discharges had an accuracy
better than 80%. That is to say, equation (1) can be used to convert water stage in
Luoshan to river discharge in Wuhanguan. However, it is necessary to mention that
errors in discharge estimated from fitted rating curves can arise from the scatter of
observed records about the fitted curve. Rating curves are often determined from
 Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel 257

Table 3 Comparison between calculated discharge and measured discharge.

Date and time Water stage in Date and time Discharge in Hankou (m3 s-1):
Luoshan (m) Calculated Measured Relative
error (%)
01/01/98 08:00 21.46 02/01/98 08:00 12 038 13 300 9.49
01/02/98 08:00 21.67 02/02/98 08:00 12 481 13 000 3.99
01/03/98 08:00 21.77 02/03/98 08:00 12 696 13 200 3.82
01/04/98 08:00 22.27 02/04/98 08:00 13 813 14 500 4.74
01/05/98 08:00 21.76 02/05/98 08:00 12 674 13 000 2.50
01/06/98 08:00 26.44 02/06/98 08:00 26 129 27 800 6.01
01/07/98 08:00 32.66 02/07/98 08:00 57 265 57 700 0.75
01/08/98 08:00 34.52 02/08/98 08:00 70 343 62 900 –11.83
01/09/98 08:00 34.29 02/09/98 08:00 68 618 67 500 –1.66
01/10/98 08:00 28.50 02/10/98 08:00 34 525 33 700 –2.45
01/11/98 08:00 23.73 02/11/98 08:00 17 487 17 500 0.07
01/12/98 08:00 20.30 02/12/98 08:00 9 793 9 300 –5.30
01/01/99 08:00 18.90 02/01/99 08:00 7 510 6 960 –7.91
01/02/99 08:00 19.06 02/02/99 08:00 7 749 7 620 –1.69
01/03/99 08:00 18.20 02/03/99 08:00 6 528 6 100 –7.02
01/04/99 08:00 18.34 02/04/99 08:00 6 717 6 460 –3.97
01/05/99 08:00 26.06 02/05/99 08:00 24 762 26 200 5.49
01/06/99 08:00 27.79 02/06/99 08:00 31 437 30 700 –2.40
01/07/99 08:00 30.93 02/07/99 08:00 46 785 43 200 –8.30
01/08/99 08:00 33.21 02/08/99 08:00 60 929 58 100 –4.87
01/09/99 08:00 31.09 02/09/99 08:00 47 690 46 700 –2.12
01/10/99 08:00 28.49 02/10/99 08:00 34 480 34 200 –0.82
01/11/99 08:00 24.54 02/11/99 08:00 19 808 19 800 –0.04
01/12/99 08:00 23.22 02/12/99 08:00 16 131 16 300 1.03

measurement records spread over perhaps several years, during which time the curve
may change owing to factors such as deposition of sediment or erosion of the channel
bed. To improve the accuracy of conversion from water stage at one site to discharge
at another site, more complex flood routing procedures ranging in simplicity from
Muskingum-type models to solution of the full dynamic flow (Saint Venant) equations
may be needed. This exceeds the research scope of this paper.

Error of satellite-derived surface water width In general, two factors influence

the measurement derived from a satellite image: the curvature of the Earth and
misclassified pixels.
To estimate river discharge, the study area is usually not large enough to consider
the curvature of the Earth. As the spatial resolution of QuickBird-2 satellite imagery is
0.61 m (nadir), one can identify the control section and measure the water-surface
width with satisfactory precision. The influence of misclassified pixels is analysed on
the basis of the width–depth ratio formula given in Fig. 4:
258 Jiqun Zhang et al.

H = −3.2016 × 10 −7 B 3 + 1.5633 × 10 −3 B 2 − 2.4799 B + 1302.6

dH dB = −9.60468 × 10 −7 B 2 + 3.12666 × 10 −3 B − 2.47992
For a measured B = 1587 m, if a pixel was misclassified in this QuickBird-2 image,
then dB = 0.61 m. From the upper equation, dH = 0.038 m. According to the water
stage–discharge equation (1):
Q = 0.1365H3.7138
dQ dH = 0.5069 H 2.7138
dQ = 117.37 m3/s
117.37
dQ Q = = 0.58%
20308
Thus, the error due to a misclassified pixel in a QuickBird-2 image will be about
0.58%. Similar results can be achieved for the other width-to-depth ratio equations.
Therefore, a QuickBird-2 image can be used to measured surface water width with
satisfactory precision.

Restriction and potential for real application

The methodology described in this paper allows one to estimate river discharge from
VHR satellite data. This was not possible before this source of data was available for
non-military applications. The factors restricting the applicability of the approach at
present are: high cost of images, sampling frequency and limitations of optical sensors
in cloud cover conditions. Thus, it will supplement traditional methods or other remote
sensing methods instead of replacing them. Rapid improvements in satellite
technology will bring down the costs and improve the sampling frequency in the
future. For instance, some commercial satellites with 1-m resolution SAR data such as
RADAR1, SkyMed COSMO, and Terra SAR will be launched. Their data will be
compatible in resolution with optical systems such as QuickBird-2. Optical sensor data
are restricted by cloud conditions, but SAR data can be obtained in any weather
conditions. The use of SAR data will make the method described here more valuable.
As the price of satellite monitoring goes down, the method could be used for real
monitoring. For example, severe flooding usually occurs in the Wuhan area every year.
Through the use of the present approach and remote sensing data VHR satellite data
and/or airborne SAR data), a floodwater warning system could be developed.

CONCLUSIONS

Traditionally, a river discharge is monitored by measuring the water stage and then
converting it to river discharge with a stage–discharge rating curve. The estimation of
river discharge from satellite data is still largely in its early stages and is likely to be
improved considerably. In this study, the feasibility was investigated of using VHR
satellite data for providing discharge information for a non-trapezoidal river channel
where a given variation in depth does not produce corresponding changes in surface
 Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel 259

water width. This approach is based on a series of simple procedures: surface water
width measurements coupled with river width–stage and “remote” stage–discharge
rating curves. The satellite-derived discharge matched the ground-measured discharge
with satisfactory precision.
As scientific research, the study tries to enrich our understanding of monitoring
surface water dynamics from space. Despite the difficulties and limitations in using
remote sensing techniques to monitor river discharge, the advantage of satellite-based
river discharge monitoring is that it can fill in gaps where there is little or no
information and provide data over large areas.
Furthermore, because remotely sensed images can be captured more readily these
days at high resolution, efficient methods to convert satellite data to geographic
information like the one proposed here should be very useful for extracting up-to-date
and accurate water information.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Dr Balazs M. Fekete and the
anonymous referee, who kindly reviewed an earlier version of this manuscript and
provided many valuable comments and suggestions. This work was carried out at the
National Institute for Environmental Studies, with funding from the Ministry of the
Environment, Japan. The research was partly supported by a Chinese project
no. 40171074 “Distributed watershed flood forecasting model based on Remote
Sensing and GIS”. The QuickBird-2 satellite data were provided by Hitachi GIIS,
Japan, and acquired by the DigitalGlobe Company, USA. Ground measurements of
river discharge were collected at the Luoshan and Hankou hydrological stations by the
Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, and were provided by the Hydrology
Bureau of the Ministry of Water Resources of China.

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Received 23 January 2003; accepted 24 December 2003