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8 - Reservoir Management from Space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2025

Faisal Hossain
Affiliation:
University of Washington
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Summary

In this Chapter, we will explore how reservoirs can be monitored from space for water management. Today it is now possible to track the dynamic state of reservoirs at temporal and spatial scales of satellite remote sensing. This dynamic state comprises inflow, outflow, surface area, storage change and evaporative losses. Most of these variables can be modeled using satellite data or directly estimated using satellite data. This chapter will introduce readers to the Reservoir Assessment Tool (RAT) that we have developed as an open-source complete package for users to use the full power of satellite remote sensing to track reservoirs anywhere.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

References

Biswas, N. K., Hossain, F., Bonnema, M., Lee, H., and Chishtie, F. (2021). Towards a global Reservoir Assessment Tool for predicting hydrologic impacts and operating patterns of existing and planned reservoirs. Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 140, 105043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105043CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Das, P., Hossain, F., Khan, S., et al. (2022). Reservoir Assessment Tool 2.0: stakeholder driven improvements to satellite remote sensing based reservoir monitoring. Environmental Modeling and Software, vol. 157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105533CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Das, P., Hossain, F., Minocha, S., et al. (2024). ResORR: a globally scalable and satellite data-driven algorithm for river flow regulation due to reservoir operations. Environmental Modeling and Software, vol. 176, 106026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106026CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Minocha, S., Hossain, F., Das, P., et al. (2023). Reservoir Assessment Tool 3.0: a scalable satellite-based reservoir monitoring tool to mobilize the global water management community. Geosci Model Dev. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2023-130Google Scholar
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Suggested Reading

Gao, H. (2015). Satellite remote sensing of large lakes and reservoirs: from elevation and area to storage. WIREs Water, 2, 147157. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1065CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, H., Birkett, C., and Lettenmaier, D. P. (2012). Global monitoring of large reservoir storage from satellite remote sensing. Water Resources Research, vol. 48, W09504. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012WR012063CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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