Poster Details
QUANTIFYING THE ACCURACY OF LANDSAT IN ESTIMATING RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE AREA
Water is a crucial resource for food production in semi-arid regions of the world, such as parts of West Africa. Thus, the management of water storage plays a critical role in human well-being. In this research, we are trying to understand the dynamics of water storage in small reservoirs in the Volta Basin by using remotely sensed imagery. Google Earth images are more accurate than Landsat images, but Google Earth has only been collecting data for about fifteen years. However, the Landsat program has collected more than three million images for about forty years. First, we will assess the accuracy satellite images (Landsat 7 or 8) by comparing them to available aerial photography (Google Earth). We will quantify how accuracy changes with soil color, latitude and size of reservoir from 2000-2016. A detailed accuracy assessment will improve our ability to estimate changes in storage across semi-arid regions of the world to inform water resources management. In addition, we hope to detect changes in water quantity by assessing the impact of the local communities and their activities in these small reservoirs in the Volta Basin.
Lambert Ngenzi (Primary Presenter/Author), Washington State University-Pullman, lambert.ngenzi@wsu.edu;