Estimation of Coastal Area and Lake Water Level Changes Using High-Resolution Altimetry

Abstract

Radar satellite altimeters are widely used in offshore areas, whereas they are underutilized in coastal areas due to a number of interference factors. Altimeter satellite data can be used to summarize elevation information at 1 Hz for offshore areas, but for areas close to land, it is more effective to utilize imagery with a resolution of 20 Hz to provide a more detailed representation. The use of highresolution satellite altimeter data is expected to increase the amount of data available for hydrological data such as complex coastlines and small lakes. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the applicability of 20 Hz altimeter data in the Korean Peninsula. First, the accuracy was analyzed by comparing the 20 Hz altimeter data from the Jason-3 satellite with the Ulleungdo tide data. Second, we compared the 20 Hz altimeter data from the Sentinel-3A satellite with the water level data of Soyang Lake to see if it can be applied to land areas. In the case of inland lakes, the water level is estimated to be affected by the discharge volume due to heavy rainfall in summer, and it was determined that the satellite altimeter data can be utilized. Therefore, utilizing the data from this study is expected to improve the accuracy of hydrological analysis in coastal and lake environments.

Keywords

• altimeter
• sentinel-3a
• jason-3
• sea surface height
• water level