Potential to use free satellite imagery to retrieve the past bathymetry of large rivers

Abstract

Information on bathymetric changes in large rivers is useful for flood planning, navigation, and predicting channel change. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential for measuring bathymetry of rivers from satellite images, but such studies have used high-resolution, expensive data applied to ideal river conditions, such as low turbidity. Many of the large rivers of the world are located in countries that cannot afford the carefully planned field surveys and commercial satellite images used in these studies. In this study we investigate whether past bathymetry of large rivers could be retrieved by using readily collated free satellite images, combined with the limited cross-sectional su..