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Title: A morphology independent methodology for quantifying planview river change and characteristics from remotely sensed imagery

Abstract

Remotely sensed imagery of rivers has long served as a means for characterizing channel properties and detection of planview change. In the last decade the dramatic increase in the availability of satellite imagery and processing tools has created the potential to greatly expand the spatial and temporal scale of our understanding of river morphology and dynamics. To date, the majority of GIS and automated analyses of planview changes in rivers from remotely sensed data has been developed for single-threaded meandering river systems. These methods have limited applicability to many of the earth's rivers with complex multi-channel planforms. Here we present the methodologies of a set of analysis algorithms collectively called Spatially Continuous Riverbank Erosion and Accretion Measurements (SCREAM). SCREAM analyzes planview river metrics regardless of river morphology. These algorithms quantify both the erosion and accretion rates of riverbanks from binary masks of channels generated from imagery acquired at two time periods. Additionally, the program quantifies the area of change between river channels and the surrounding floodplain and area of islands lost or formed between these two time periods. To examine variations in erosion rates in relation to local channel attributes and make rate comparisons between river systems of varying sizes,more » the program determines channel widths and bank curvature at every bank pixel. SCREAM was developed and tested on rivers with diverse and complex planform morphologies in imagery acquired from a range of observational platforms with varying spatial resolutions. Here, validation and verification of SCREAM-generated metrics against manual measurements show no significant measurement errors in determination of channel width, erosion, and bank aspects. SCREAM has the potential to provide data for both the quantitative examination of the controls on erosion rates and for the comparison of these rates across river systems ranging broadly in size and planform morphology.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1329690
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1359827
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-25482
Journal ID: ISSN 0034-4257
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Remote Sensing of Environment
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 184; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0034-4257
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; planetary sciences; rivers; change detection; morphology; erosion; accretion

Citation Formats

Rowland, Joel C., Shelef, Eitan, Pope, Paul A., Muss, Jordan, Gangodagamage, Chandana, Brumby, Steven P., and Wilson, Cathy J. A morphology independent methodology for quantifying planview river change and characteristics from remotely sensed imagery. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2016.07.005.
Rowland, Joel C., Shelef, Eitan, Pope, Paul A., Muss, Jordan, Gangodagamage, Chandana, Brumby, Steven P., & Wilson, Cathy J. A morphology independent methodology for quantifying planview river change and characteristics from remotely sensed imagery. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.07.005
Rowland, Joel C., Shelef, Eitan, Pope, Paul A., Muss, Jordan, Gangodagamage, Chandana, Brumby, Steven P., and Wilson, Cathy J. Fri . "A morphology independent methodology for quantifying planview river change and characteristics from remotely sensed imagery". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.07.005. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1329690.
@article{osti_1329690,
title = {A morphology independent methodology for quantifying planview river change and characteristics from remotely sensed imagery},
author = {Rowland, Joel C. and Shelef, Eitan and Pope, Paul A. and Muss, Jordan and Gangodagamage, Chandana and Brumby, Steven P. and Wilson, Cathy J.},
abstractNote = {Remotely sensed imagery of rivers has long served as a means for characterizing channel properties and detection of planview change. In the last decade the dramatic increase in the availability of satellite imagery and processing tools has created the potential to greatly expand the spatial and temporal scale of our understanding of river morphology and dynamics. To date, the majority of GIS and automated analyses of planview changes in rivers from remotely sensed data has been developed for single-threaded meandering river systems. These methods have limited applicability to many of the earth's rivers with complex multi-channel planforms. Here we present the methodologies of a set of analysis algorithms collectively called Spatially Continuous Riverbank Erosion and Accretion Measurements (SCREAM). SCREAM analyzes planview river metrics regardless of river morphology. These algorithms quantify both the erosion and accretion rates of riverbanks from binary masks of channels generated from imagery acquired at two time periods. Additionally, the program quantifies the area of change between river channels and the surrounding floodplain and area of islands lost or formed between these two time periods. To examine variations in erosion rates in relation to local channel attributes and make rate comparisons between river systems of varying sizes, the program determines channel widths and bank curvature at every bank pixel. SCREAM was developed and tested on rivers with diverse and complex planform morphologies in imagery acquired from a range of observational platforms with varying spatial resolutions. Here, validation and verification of SCREAM-generated metrics against manual measurements show no significant measurement errors in determination of channel width, erosion, and bank aspects. SCREAM has the potential to provide data for both the quantitative examination of the controls on erosion rates and for the comparison of these rates across river systems ranging broadly in size and planform morphology.},
doi = {10.1016/j.rse.2016.07.005},
journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},
number = C,
volume = 184,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Fri Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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