Satellite remote sensing of melt water river discharge

The intern Samuel Valman will work with Professors André St-Hilaire and Normand Bergeron at IRNS to develop a system to monitor river water discharge using satellite earth observation. The method developed will focus on measuring discharge during the melt water season of rivers in Quebec. This meltwater period is traditionally the most difficult period to measure river discharge with traditional methods which can only measure discharge at a single point along the river system and are prone to errors during high flow events. This method will utilize the novel “cubesat” satellites flown in a constellation by Planet Imagery which enable daily high-resolution images of these sites. The project will require some fieldwork to create discharge rating curves based on river width which can then be used with this satellite measured river width to measure discharge values throughout the year.

The expected outputs of this product include a scientific research article on the success of the method and the production of a system that can be used for monitoring flood risk and water resources in the future.

Faculty Supervisor:

André St-Hilaire

Student:

Partner:

University of Nottingham

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Education

University:

Université du Québec : Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Program: