Actual water volume assessment in a watershed via the surface drone

Abstract

Purpose: is to assess the actual water volumes in water objects (reservoirs, lakes, ponds) to identify the degree of maximum anthropogenic load, namely, the pollutant release. Materials and methods. Lake Svyatoe, located in Kosino-Ukhtomsky administrative district of Moscow, was chosen as the research and experimental object for testing the automatized system. The programs Google Earth Pro, Surfer 22, local author's programs for data processing, author's unmanned surface vehicle (USV), echo sounder Garmin Striker Cast GPS were used in the study. Automated systems as an unmanned surface vehicle (unmanned boat – USV), sensors (including echo sounder) and local programs for data acceptance and processing can be applied to improve and organize continuous monitoring of water objects. Results. The actual water volume assessment in the water object of 215 thousand cubic meters by means of the USV and its mounted echo sounder was demonstrated. The methodology of the unmanned boat operation for the water resources exploration was developed. Conclusions. Taking Lake Svyatoe as an example of water resources volume survey, it can be concluded that the methodology is applicable to any other water body, including reservoirs. Through regular water resources survey using USV it is possible to record not only changes in the actual water resources volume, but also bottom relief changes, sedimentation or overgrowing processes at specific sites. It also allows calculating the maximum allowable anthropogenic impact on the given object, including the maximum allowable discharge and its intensity at a particular moment of time.

Keywords

• unmanned surface vehicle
• unmanned boat
• echo sounder
• overgrowth
• siltation
• water reservoir
• monitoring