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Estimating River Surface Elevation From ArcticDEM
Author(s) -
Dai Chunli,
Durand Michael,
Howat Ian M.,
Altenau Elizabeth H.,
Pavelsky Tamlin M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2018gl077379
Subject(s) - elevation (ballistics) , digital elevation model , standard deviation , geology , shore , remote sensing , rating curve , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , geomorphology , geometry , statistics , geotechnical engineering , sediment , oceanography , mathematics
ArcticDEM is a collection of 2‐m resolution, repeat digital surface models created from stereoscopic satellite imagery. To demonstrate the potential of ArcticDEM for measuring river stages and discharges, we estimate river surface heights along a reach of Tanana River near Fairbanks, Alaska, by the precise detection of river shorelines and mapping of shorelines to land surface elevation. The river height profiles over a 15‐km reach agree with in situ measurements to a standard deviation less than 30 cm. The time series of ArcticDEM‐derived river heights agree with the U.S. Geological Survey gage measurements with a standard deviation of 32 cm. Using the rating curve for that gage, we obtain discharges with a validation accuracy (root‐mean‐square error) of 234 m 3 /s (23% of the mean discharge). Our results demonstrate that ArcticDEM can accurately measure spatial and temporal variations of river surfaces, providing a new and powerful data set for hydrologic analysis.