Tennessee Technological University Faisal Hossain Tennessee Tech UNIVERSITY Potential Role of SWOT...

Tennessee Technological University

Faisal Hossain

Tennessee TechUNIVERSITY

Potential Role of SWOT for International Issues of Surface Water

Monitoring

Faisal HossainDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering


SWOT Hydrology Workshop

The Ohio State University, Sept 15-17, 2008


Faisal Hossain


OUTLINE

1. Society – What are the policy implications that freely available water storage (+flux) would have for water management?

2. Potential of SWOT for Bangladesh: Accuracy of SRTM data for discharge estimation of Brahmaputra river (braided) in Bangladesh.

General Problem of Transboundary Flow Forecasting in the Developing World:

The Story of the Niger River

Question:

How does a downstream nation monitor early the evolution of river flow across political boundaries of 5 nations, 11 administrations and a diverse landscape?

1. 4030 km long, 2,113,200 km2

2. Flows through 5 countries

4. Frequent river flooding induced by heavy rainfall

3. Drainage area comprised of 11 countries

5. Diverse climate, rainfall regime, soil conditions, topography = varying response of landscape to rainfall



Faisal Hossain


Hydro-political limitations worsen at the shorter time scales

214 International River Basins in 1979 UN Register

261 in 2002 (Updated)

145 countries are associated in IRBs..

> 50% of total surface flow

Percentage Area (of an IRB)

Number of Countries

91-99% 39

81-90% 11

71-80% 14

61-70% 11

51-60% 17

41-50% 10

31-40% 10

21-30% 13

11-20% 9

1-10% 11

Transboundary Flow Forecasting: The Global Picture on International River Basins

Source: Dr. Aaron Wolf, Oregon State University

Treaties by Continent

7

17

1

North America

Europe

Asia

Distribution of treaties with allusion to transboundary flood management


Faisal Hossain


Overview of Surface Water-related Hazards in Bangladesh

Average inundation 22%68% area inundated in 1998

About 1/4 th of the countrysusceptible to tidal surges

Over 3000 km river bank will be eroded by 2025

Water scarcity in 7 months a year

The geographical location and average land levels of Bangladesh are conducive

to

FloodErosion

Storm SurgeDrought

Source: Institute of Water Modeling - Bangladesh



Routine Surface Water Monitoring Needs of Bangladesh

Flood Forecasting during Monsoon Season.

About 30 river stations.

Forecasts for public - 3 days. 10 day to seasonal forecast under prototype.

Source: Flood Forecasting and Warning Center; www.ffwc.gov.bd

Danger Level

RHWL3-Day Water Level

Forecast

Challenges of Flood Forecasting in Bangladesh

• Bangladesh comprises only 7% of Basin area.

• Lack of upstream (transboundary) stream flow in real-time limits forecasting range to ~ 3 days. (10 day ensemble forecast in 2009)

• High costs and maintenance issues for In-situ rainfall and stream gage network

21 day forecast is IDEAL according to Asian Disaster Preparedness Center for South Asian nations


Impact of Large-scale Water Diversion Projects in Upstream Nations?


The Indian River Linking Project (IRLP)

Increase of anthropogenic alteration of long-term surface water distribution through planned large-scale water resources project in upstream nations will make downstream nations more dependent on water storage-level information from SWOT.

Use of stand-alone ‘natural’ models will not be able to provide answers to all key questions on future

water availability.



Space-borne Discharge Estimation of Brahmaputra River (a Braided River)

What is the Uncertainty of satellite interferometry (SRTM) -based discharge estimation of braided rivers?

SRTM Overpass – Feb 20, 2000

Land/Water Mask

SRTM elevation data

Braided rivers have

not been well-studied


Faisal Hossain


Space-borne Discharge Estimation of Bangladesh Rivers

Bathymetry data of Brahmaputra river cross sections from IWM Water slope derived from SRTM

Uniform flow conditions: Water surface slope=Energy gradient: Manning’s equation



Hamski et al (2008) – ASLO – American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Conference March 2-7, Orlando, Florida.

Low flow (dry season) discharge

estimated by satellite

interferometry comparable to

natural low-flow variability

Space-borne Discharge Estimation of Bangladesh Rivers

BM establishment with RTK-GPS

Tidal Discharge

Measurement

ADCP Measurement

Spot Level using Total Station

Alignment Survey using ProXR DGPS

Bathymetry Charting

Availability of Infrastructure for Ground Truth Data for SWOT in Bangladesh

IWM – Bangladesh offers a range of archived data and river measurement capability for SWOT validation



Faisal Hossain


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1. Dennis Lettenmaier – for facilitating the connection to SWOT

2. Ohio State University – Doug Alsdorf and James Hamski

3. University of Mississippi: Dr. Azad Hossain.

4. Institute of Water Modeling – Bangladesh: Abu Saleh Khan, Zeaul Huq, Mahbubur Rahman and Bushra Nishat.

5. Dhaka University - Bangladesh: Dr. Khaled Hassan.

Tennessee Tech

UNIVERSITY

THANK YOU!

QUESTIONS?

Main Message Recap

1. Increase of anthropogenic alteration of long-term surface water distribution through planned large-scale water resources project in upstream nations will make downstream nations more dependent on water storage-level/flux information from SWOT for day to day and long-term planning

2. Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basins are home to one fifth of humanity with regions vulnerable to sea level rise.

3. Virtual SWOT should include Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basins

Tennessee Technological University Faisal Hossain Tennessee Tech UNIVERSITY Potential Role of SWOT...

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