Monitoring of the water-area variations of Lake Dongting in China with ENVISAT ASAR images

As an active microwave remote sensing sensor, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can image the Earth surface with high spatial resolution in both day and night under all weather conditions. In this paper, a digital image processing technique was implemented to extract water area information from SAR images and the result is used to monitor the water area variation of Lake Dongting, the second largest freshwater lake in China. 8-year time series of European Space Agency's ENVISAT ASAR (Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar) images acquired between 2002 and 2009 were obtained and a land-water classification scheme was implemented. Using independent in situ water level data measured at a lake-side hydrologic station during study period, we derived the relationship between water level and water area of Lake Dongting. The results show that, (1) during dry seasons, the water area is 518 km2 larger than that in the 1990s reported by Yangtze BHYRWRC (Bureau of Hydrology and Yangtze River Water Resources Commission), 2000; (2) the water area of Lake Dongting increased significantly in the 2000s after the Chinese Government's “return land to lake” policy took effect in 1998; (3) the water level of Lake Dongting could be low during a rainy season due to drought; but could be high in a dry season due to discharges from the upstream Three Gorges Dam. In addition, the relationship between water storage change and water area/level change is obtained.

► We use ASAR images to monitor water-area variation of Lake Dongting, China during 2002∼2009.
► Water level could be low during rainy season due to drought.
► Water level could be high in dry season due to discharges from the upstream Three Gorges Dam.
► We derive the relationship between water storage change and water area/level change.