(2017)

Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

The assessment of sediment deposition in reservoir is very

important to predict the useful life of reservoir. It has become
essential to monitor the sedimentation rates in the reservoir at regular
intervals. Hydrographic surveys are to be done at regular intervals. In
order to estimate the available reservoir capacity at different
elevations to conduct such regular survey at different intervals is quite
tedious, difficult and costly. This tedious process can be avoided
using the modern Remote Sensing Techniques. The first artificial
satellite Remote Sensing Satellites was Sputnik 1, have been launched
by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Then, many satellites were
launched for remote sensing as well as to scientific research
applications. These satellites collect data of earth surface features in
different bands at regular intervals. The methodology involved in this
technique requires the use and analysis of the satellite imageries
provided by the Remote Sensing Satellites. The method of analysis
depends upon the data products. From the analysts, various water
levels of the reservoir at corresponding dates are obtained and
corresponding water levels are obtained from daily gauge reading the
reservoir. It is then easy to determine the volume of the reservoir
between two consecutive water levels. The minimum water level is
recorded by the satellite and minimum bed level of the reservoir
which is raised due to sedimentation is estimated based on previous
hydrographic survey. Then volume between the mapped water level
and the new zero level due to sedimentation can be estimated.
Cumulative water volume at each reservoir level is computed and
then revised elevation-area capacity curve is drawn. Total sediment
volume and its distribution can be computed by comparing the
original area capacity curve.
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[2]

Since 1998, remote sensing technologies have been widely used

to investigate the dynamical change of river mouth, river channel and
lake and sedimentation in reservoir. Remote sensing images can
provide the information of suspended sediment content. The
comparison of the images of low water period can reflect the change
of sandbanks and shallows in the water bodies of river mouth, river
channel, lake and reservoir as well as the change of water depth.
The Yellow River is the famous sandy river in the world. The
frequent changes of the sedimentation in the river bed cause the
frequent changes of channel situation, which make a great threat to
the protection of the dykes. Therefore, it is an important task to use
RS images to determine the channel situation of the middle and lower
reaches of the Yellow River before flood period, especially in low
water period.
The change of sedimentation in river channel and river mouth is
important to channel structures and port construction. The prominent
work has been made with remote sensing technology in the Nantong
Reach of the Yangtze River, mouth of the Yangtze River and mouth
of the Pearl River, which have plaid an important role in preventing
sedimentation in river mouth and channel. Remote sensing images
can not only record history, but also provide condition to analyze
sedimentation change in time and space, which is one the remote
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

sensing advantages and it is necessary to mutually complement with

hydrological data.
Sedimentation will make it change in reservoir storage year by
year. It is basic necessary in reservoir regulation to understand these
changes in timely and correct way, which is important for flood
control, power generating and irrigation. Reservoir storage and
storage curve can be determined with remote sensing images of multi
time phase and DEM before reservoir construction. By comparing
with the method of global orientation system combining echo sounder
measuring, the above-mentioned method has the advantages of fast
and low cost. In the view that the reservoir storage measurement has
not been made for the most large- and middle-sized reservoir in China
and the sedimentation condition is severe, although the method is not
good in precision, it is convenient and effective. For example, it is
successful to measure the reservoir storage curves of Xinanjiang
Reservoir and Fengman Reservoir with remote sensing images of
multi time phase. As for the lakes, the results of the landform
measuring under water can used as DEM to measure lake storage
change and relationship between storage capacity and water level. All
these show a development of application of RS technology in water
conservancy in recent 10 years.
In order to sum up, remote sensing technology as a substitution
of traditional means has been widely and deeply applied in hydrology
and water resources management in recent years. As an advanced and
effective means, remote sensing technologies have been understood
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[4]

by more and more hydrologists. In order to let more hydrologists use

RS technology and put into development of RS application in Water
Conservancy, the problems should be settled on how to put RS
technology into further application. There are 80% of the information
that human being have touched involves with time and space, all
which can be received by the means of observing earth. It can be
affirmed that remote sensing technology will be necessary means to
solve the most problems from hydrology and water resources in this
century.

The Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) method for assessment of

reservoir sedimentation uses the fact, that the water spread area of
reservoir at various elevations keeps on decreasing due to
sedimentation. Remote Sensing technique gives us directly the water-
spread area of the reservoir at a particular elevation on the date of
pass of the satellite. This helps us to estimate sedimentation over a
period of time. This seminar describes assessment of sedimentation in
reservoir using Remote Sensing satellite imageries.
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

Capacity surveys are important for proper allocation and

management of water in a reservoir. Knowledge about the significant
of sediment and its deposition pattern in various zones of a reservoir
is very essential to assess the balance life of reservoir. In view of this,
systematic capacity surveys of a reservoir should be conducted
periodically. Using the Remote Sensing techniques, it has become
very efficient and convenient to quantify the sedimentation in a
reservoir and to assess its distribution and deposition pattern. Remote
Sensing technology, offering data acquisition over a long period of
time and broad spectral range, can provide synoptic, repetitive and
timely information regarding the sedimentation characteristics in a
reservoir. Reservoir water spread area for a particular elevation can be
obtained very accurately from the satellite data. Reduction if any, in
the water spread area for a particular elevation indicates deposition of
sediment at that level. This when integrated over a range of elevations
using multi-date satellite data enables in computing volume of storage
lost due to sedimentation. The detailed methodology explained in the
form of flow chart is given blow.
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[6]

The shape of the reservoir is defined by the depth to capacity

relationship. Many imperial methods were developed from resurvey
data such as Area-Reduction Method, or empirical curves based on
variation of wetted-perimeter through the reservoir length for
predicting longitudinal sediment distribution pattern in reservoirs, and
prediction of sediment distribution in reservoirs based on original
area-capacity and depth-capacity data of reservoirs.
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

The Criteria of the satellite data selection for the monitoring of

sedimentation of reservoir studies are based on the following:
1- To carry out the feasibility assessment of the given reservoir
regarding availability of cloud free satellite data of dates of satellite
pass corresponding to different levels at uniform interval to extent
possible in between these levels for the latest water year or maximum
up to two previous water years.
2- To carry out sedimentation analysis through satellite remote
sensing technique to cover the entire live storage and available dead
storage zones of the reservoir.
3- In case of inability to cover the entire live storage zone of reservoir
due to non-availability of cloud free satellite data at studying levels,
the study may be taken up if minimum of 80% of live storage capacity
is covered by the available cloud free dates of satellite pass on
maximum and minimum reservoir level.

The methodology for estimation of live capacity of reservoir using

remote sensing consist of following:
Digital data base creation.
Estimation of water-spread area.
Calculation of reservoir capacity.
Comparison with previous surveys.
Estimation of live capacity loss due to sedimentation.
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[8]

1) The Remote Sensing based capacity estimation, works between

flood reservoir level and the minimum water level in the reservoir
only. Thus changes can be estimated only in this zone of reservoir.
For the capacity estimation below minimum water level in reservoir,
other method like hydrographic survey is to be conducted.
2) Availability of cloud free dates thought reservoir operation period
is the problem. Hence data from different year was selected.
3) Remote Sensing technique gives accurate estimation for fan shaped
reservoir where there is a considerable change in water-spread area
for incremental change in water level.
4) Another source of general error lies in the identification of tail end
of reservoir particularly, in rainy season.

1-Topographical Data: the topographical details includes contour

maps , the longitudinal section for main river channel could be
obtained from project authority.
2- Field Data: Maximum, minimum and daily water level data for the
study period should be collected from dam site. The leading features
of the reservoir along with original ElevationAreaCapacity
Curves" (Figure 1), catchment area details, land use patterns and maps
should also collected.
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

Figure (1)
3-Satellite Data: The multi-spectral data of Satellites for sensor
available for the cloud free dates at different selected levels for the
years within the research period should be used.
The general output of remote sensing data is spatial, spectral and
temporal revised water spread image of reservoir. Water pixels from
the remote sensing data can be obtained by digit image processing
technique (visual and digital) and identification of water pixels is
done with the help of normalized difference water index (NDWI),
image ratioing (IR) and slicing. These geo-referenced Multidate
satellite images give revised water spread area at different elevations
and along with the altitude between them, revised volumes between
these elevations can be computed by prismoidal formula.
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[10]

In order to highlight the methods and techniques used to

determine and evaluate reservoir capacity and sedimentation using
remote sensing techniques, we will review techniques employeded in
this field:

Ijam and Al-Mahamid (2012) simulated Mujib dam catchment

area in Jordan to identify the quantity of water and sediment inflow to
the reservoir, applying techniques which reduce these values in
sequence to decrease the sediment yield reaching the reservoir by
applying the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) model
with the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Digitized
Elevation Model (DEM) software.

1. The digital elevation model was created using Arc-View GIS

version for Mujib watershed and the adjacent regions.
2.The land cover map was digitized using Arc-View in order to
enabling to use it in the model. The study area contains three types of
land cover: dry steppe, scrub/woodland and desert. These types are
close to: dry steppe of shrubland (RNGB), agricultural land of
scattered scrubs and woodland (AGRL) and desert area(SWRN)
consequently as loaded in the default SWAT data base according to
USGS definitions.
3. The soil GIS layer for the area was prepared. The National Soil
Map of Jordan provides important data for each sub region such as:
silt, sand and clay contents. Additional data are prepared for each sub
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

region such as: soil type, hydraulic conductivity, soil available water
content, soil hydrologic group, soil moisture bulk density and soil
erodibility factor.
4. Daily precipitation data file for four rainfall gauges (surrounding
the study area), and weather generator data file for two stations(more
closed to study area) were provided to the SWAT model.

1. The first step after preparing all required data was watershed
delineation. The model utilizes the provided DEM and streams layer
to delineate the area into subbasins as shown in Figure(2). Then, the
model estimates the related data for streams layer and subbasins layer,
such as: area of subbasins, average slope of subbasins, length and
cross-sectional dimensions of streams and field slope length.

Figure(2)
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[12]

2. The model would overlay the soil and landcover layer on the
subbasins layer and create a description report which includes each
subbasin and its landcover and soil types within the subbasin.
3. The hydrologic response unit (HRU) was defined to allow the
model to subdivide the study area into regions having unique soil and
land cover properties.
4. Loading the daily precipitation and weather stations data files into
the model. The SWAT database was linked to the layers data in order
to find all the parameters necessary for estimating the sediment yield
at each HRU.
5. Running the model for the period of simulation.

Issa et al.,(2013) conducted a study for sedimentation and new

operational curves for Mosul Dam, Iraq. Mosul dam is one of the
biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. Its storage capacity is 11.11109
m3 at a maximum operation level of 330 m a.s.l. The dam became
operational in 1986 and no survey have been conducted to determine
its storage capacity and establish new operational curves since this
date. A topographic map of scale 1:50,000 dated 1983 was converted
into triangulated irregular network (TIN) format using the ArcGIS
program to evaluate the operational curves. Then the reservoir was
surveyed in 2011 to establish the reduction in its storage capacity and
to develop new operational curves. The dam is located approximately
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

60 km northwest of Mosul city and 80 km from the Syrian and

Turkish borders, as shown in figure (3).

Figure (3)
A pre-impoundment (1983) 1:50000-scale topographic map,
obtained from the Remote Sensing Centre at Mosul University, Iraq,
was used to evaluate the adopted operating curves and for comparison
with the 2011 bathymetric survey. The topographic map was
projected onto a satellite image and geo-referenced to the Universal
Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, WGS-1984, Zone 38N in
the ArcInfo program of ArcGIS version 9.3 (Environmental Systems
Research Institute, Inc. 2012) (Figure-4). To check the accuracy of
work done, the map was superimposed on the satellite image. It could
be seen that the course of River Tigris and side valleys coincide.
Contour lines and spot locations of elevation (benchmarks and high-
water marks) within the reservoir area on the map were manually
digitized to compute x, y and z coordinates. Furthermore, stream path
lines representing the River Tigris within the reservoir area were also
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[14]

digitized using water surface slope and contour lines. The water
surface slope of the River Tigris within the reservoir area at that time
was 0.65 m/ km

Figure (4)
The total number of digitized points within the reservoir area was
6029 as shown in figure (5).

Figure (5)
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

A reservoir Polygon Shapefile (hard clip) around the reservoir

boundary was created from the satellite image using the ArcMap
program in ArcGIS (Figure 6). This image, representing the reservoir
at 320 m a.s.l., was obtained from the Remote Sensing Centre at
Mosul University. The polygon was used in a TIN development to
prevent the interpolation outside the enclosed area.

Figure (6)
All digitized point files from the 1983 map and the reservoir Polygon
Shapefile were used to develop a TIN for the reservoir area before the
construction of the dam (Figure 7). The WGS-1984, Zone 38N
projection information, linear unit of meter for interpolation, and a
0.9996 scale factor were used in this process. In addition, the
longitudinal bed profile of the River Tigris within the reservoir area
before impounding was plotted from the topographic map and the
TIN of the 1983 survey using the ArcGIS software (Figure 8).
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[16]

Figure (7)

Figure (8)
The TIN of the 1983 survey was used to construct areastorage
capacity curves of Mosul Reservoir for the pre-impoundment period
(Figure 9). These were with existing operational curves proposed by
IVO.
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

Figure (9)

The methodology and data-processing methods that were used in the

bathymetric survey for Mosul Reservoir conducted in May 2011 to
develop new areastorage capacity curves and determine the sediment
distribution within the reservoir using echo sounder sonar viewer and
ArcGIS software are as follows:
(A) Field work: The bathymetric survey of the Mosul Reservoir was
conducted in May 2011 using an echo sounder with accessories. The
data were collected using a 200-kHz single beam echo sounder viewer
linked to a real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK-GPS)
to define the absolute coordinates (x,y,z) of the reservoir bottom
during the traverses. The bathymetric survey system software records
the (x,y,z) coordinates data in a sonar chart.
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[18]

(B) Data processing: Depth and boat position data obtained from the
echo sounding survey were in (.slg) format. Each (.slg) file was
converted to (x,y,z) coordinates (.csv) MS Excel file format by
Sonar Log Viewer .The water depth values in .csv were adjusted
with respect to transducer depth . The value of bed-elevation = water
surface elevation adjusted depth. It should be mentioned, however,
that, as the survey was conducted during a calm period, the heights of
waves were less than 10 cm. For this reason, the effect of waves was
neglected. A water surface boundary of the reservoir was manually
digitized from satellite image and saved in .csv to determine the
boundary of the reservoir. The .csv Excel files and Polygon
Shapefile were then used to develop the TIN of the 2011 survey.
Figure 10 shows the details of the transect lines during the
bathymetric survey.

Figure (10)
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

Finally, the TIN for the 2011 bathymetric survey (Figure 11) and
operational curves (Figure 9) were used to update the areastorage
capacity curves for Mosul Reservoir using ArcGIS (Figure 12). The
new operation curves of the Mosul Reservoir.

Figure (11)

Figure (12)
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[20]

Dadoria et al., (2017) computed the loss of storage capacity and

sedimentation in Murrumsilli reservoir situated in dhamtari district,
Chhattisgarh state, India, by using digit image processing technique.
Ten LISS III scene of IRS 1D/P6 (Path53, Row 96) have been
selected and digital image analysis have been processed out in ILWIS
3.0 GIS software. The satellite data used in the analysis has shown in
the Table(1). The original elevation-area capacity curve/table and the
reservoir level of year 2014 to 2015 have also been used in the
analysis.

The ten images have been geo-referenced by using Survey of India

topo-sheets so that they can be superimposed and associate with the
latitude and longitude and the geographical area also can be found out
directly in sq. m. After geo-referencing, ten images have been slice to
small sizes to display the water spread area of the reservoir and its
surroundings. The visible region of the spectrum (0.4-0.7 urn) shows
the transmittance of water significant and the absorption and
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

reflectance are low. The absorption of water swift in the near-IR band,
where both the reflectance and transmittance will low. The
normalized difference water index (NDWI) has been used to identify
the water pixels in the images. The NDWI can be representing as:

OR

The slicing of the NDWI images has been executed to extract the
water pixels from the rest. The revised areas brought in from this
operation are used to compute the revised volume between two
consecutive elevations by using cone formula. In the cone formula,
the volume of water (V) between two successive spread A1 and A2
and height difference (h) can be represent as:

The revised cumulative capacity of reservoir has been obtained by

adding revised volumes between consecutive intervals. For comparing
the original cumulative capacities on different elevation on date of
pass have been obtained from the original elevation-area-capacity
curve.
After that slicing operation of NDWI images have been carried out to
extract the water pixel from the rest. The NDWI and masked out
water Spread area Image of Murrumsilli on 28-NOV-2013 has been
shown in figure (13).
Reservoir-Sedimentation Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques Page[22]

Figure (13)
The graphical representation of the elevation versus original and
revised cumulative capacities of Murrumsilli reservoir has been in
shown figure (14).

Figure (14)
Remote Sensing Ph.D. Course

Dadoria, D., Tiwari, H. L., and Jaiswal, R. K., (2017), Assessment

of Reservoir Sedimentation in Chhattisgarh State Using Remote
Sensing and GIS, International Journal of Civil Engineering and
Technology (IJCIET),Vol. 8, Issue 4.
Ijam, A. Z., and Al-Mahamid M.,H.,(2012), Predicting
Sedimentation at Mujib Dam Reservoir in Jordan, Jordan Journal
of Civil Engineering, Volume 6, No. 4.
Issa, E. I., Al-Ansar,N., and Knutsson S., (2013), Sedimentation
and new operational curves for Mosul Dam, Iraq, Hydrological
Sciences Journal, Vol.58, No.7, pp.1456-1466.
Johnson, L.E., (2009), Geographic Information Systems in Water
Resources Engineering, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Narasayya, K., Roman, U C., Sreekanth, S., and Jatwa,S., (2012),
Assessment of Reservoir Sedimentation Using Remote Sensing
Satellite Imageries, Asian Journal of Geoinformatics,
Vol.12,No.4.