IAHS2022-268, updated on 23 Sep 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-268
IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Monitoring seasonal and interannual water level variability using sentinel-3 radar altimetry data: Application to Lake Buyo from 2016 to 2020.

Sekouba Oularé1, Fernand Koffi Kouamé2, Christian Armel Kouassi Komenan1, Serge Deh Kouakou1, and René Therrien3
Sekouba Oularé et al.
  • 1Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny,, UFR Sciences de la Terre et des Ressources Minières , Laboratoire des Sciences du Sol, de l’Eau et des Géomatériaux , 22 BP 582, Abidjan 22, Côte d’Ivoire (oulare_sekouba@yahoo.fr)
  • 2Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d'Application en Télédétection , UFR Sciences de la Terre et des ressources minières, 22 BP 801, Abidjan 22, Côte d’Ivoire
  • 3Université Laval, Faculté des sciences et de génie, Département de géologie et de génie géologique, Pavillon Adrien-Pouliot, G1K 7P4, Québec (Québec), Canada

In this work, we evaluate the contribution of radar altimetry in the analysis of water level variations in Lake Buyo, located in the southwest of Côte d'Ivoire. Lake Buyo is a major hydroelectric dam and plays an important role in economic, social and environmental terms. It is characterised by periods of high and low water which affect certain economic activities such as electricity production and fishing. Water level fluctuations in Lake Buyo also influence ecological processes and represent a marker of climate change in the region.

The altimetry data considered in this study come from the Sentinel-3A satellite, more precisely from tracks n° 016 and n° 743 from orbits 8 and 372 respectively, which cover the area of interest. These level 2 data are available on the CTOH platform. They have been corrected from atmospheric and geophysical effects to make them operational. The calculation of the water level is based on the range measured by the altimeter and the sum of these corrections.

The results indicate that the Buyo lake is intensively recharged from June to September. The time between December and May represents the drying period of the lake. Furthermore, the analysis of inter-annual variations shows that 2016 has the highest peak in the study period. From 2016 to 2020, the maximum water level heights show a decreasing trend with estimated values of 200.98 m; 200.55 m; 200.53 m; 200.05 m; 198.36 m. The trend in the water level of the lake is therefore constantly decreasing.

Although these results have not yet been validated in the field, they constitute a very important preliminary database for monitoring Lake Buyo. Indeed, recent studies have evaluated the performance of several radar altimetry missions, including Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B for continental water level surveys.

Keywords: Radar altimetry, Sentinel-3A, CTOH, Lake Buyo, Water level, Hydroelectric dam, Ivory Coast

How to cite: Oularé, S., Koffi Kouamé, F., Armel Kouassi Komenan, C., Deh Kouakou, S., and Therrien, R.: Monitoring seasonal and interannual water level variability using sentinel-3 radar altimetry data: Application to Lake Buyo from 2016 to 2020., IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022, Montpellier, France, 29 May–3 Jun 2022, IAHS2022-268, https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-268, 2022.