Monitoring Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Water Level Fluctuations Using SAR Data

Session: Remote Sensing, Visualization, and Spatial Data Applications for the Great Lakes (3)

Yueling Shi, The Ohio State University, shi.1335@osu.edu
Yuanyuan Jia, The Ohio State University, jia.102@osu.edu
C K Shum, Dvision of Geodetic Science, School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, ckshum@osu.edu
Vibhor Agarwal, Division of Geodetic Science, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, agarwal.282@osu.edu
Orhan Akyilmaz, Department of Geomatics Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, akyilma2@itu.edu.tr
Metehan Uz, Department of Geomatics Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, metehanuz@hotmail.com

Abstract

Great Lakes coastal wetlands are directly connected with one of the Great Lakes or its channels. Wetlands are found along shorelines and channels throughout the basin, and they not only play an important role in the Great Lakes ecosystem but also have economic and cultural impacts. The ecologic impacts include flood control, water and nutrient storage, shoreline protection, sediment trapping, biodiversity such as habitats for plant and animal species, and supporting the food chain. However, the exact knowledge of wetland water level change and the flow patterns with adequate resolutions is elusive due to inadequate water level gauging stations. InSAR has been used for wetland water level monitoring via double-bounce backscattering, while relatively fewer studies used the technique to exploit inverse correlations between water level and SAR backscatter intensity change over vegetated wetlands. Here, we demonstrate that integrating multi-mission C-/L- band SAR and radar altimetry data, can effectively monitor Great Lakes wetland water level fluctuation. We then present results on the use of opportunistic signals for wetland water level retrieval from spaceborne or in situ GNSS-Reflectometry. These measurements could potentially complement the US Fish & Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), and the current Great Lakes wetland inventory mapping projects.