Identifying intermittent river sections with similar hydrology using remotely sensed metrics

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dc.contributor.authorTayer, TCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBeesley, LSen_AU
dc.contributor.authorDouglas, MMen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBourke, SAen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMeredith, KTen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMcFarlane, Den_AU
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-27T21:41:30Zen_AU
dc.date.available2024-02-27T21:41:30Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2023-11en_AU
dc.date.statistics2024-02-28en_AU
dc.description.abstractAs the human population grows and the demand for freshwater intensifies, river systems previously overlooked for water production are increasingly being earmarked for development. Many of these rivers are intermittent or in remote locations, and most are insufficiently instrumented (i.e., few to no gauging stations) and poorly understood, even though sustainable water resource development and the effective management of these systems relies on a thorough understanding of their hydrology. Remote sensing of surface water has been posed as a viable method for describing the morphology, resilience and fragmentation of river hydrology, much like metrics generated from discharge data. The low cost and increasing frequency and quality of spectral images means that this approach has a great potential to characterise hydrology at fine scales across large areas. However, the approach remains largely untested with previous research only examining small river sections. This study aimed to characterise a hydrologically diverse 400 km reach of an intermittent lowland river using newly developed, spatially derived, ecohydrological metrics. We used multidimensional clustering to identify river sections with similar hydrology, examined their spatial arrangement along the river and compared their characteristics with discharge data from four gauging stations. Metric clustering revealed four hydrological types (zones) that spanned a continuum from highly intermittent to highly persistent. Spatially, zones were at the scale of pool-run/riffle geomorphic units that alternated along the study area. Density maps of hydrological zones revealed that the mid-section of the study reach had higher persistence and longitudinal connectivity, a finding that aligned with a pre-existing groundwater discharge map generated from field sampling of environmental tracers. Limited gauging station coverage constrained comparisons, but available stations in Persistent or Refuge zones exhibited similar hydrograph responses. The ability to map hydrology continuously along the length of a river is a significant advance compared to a gauged approach, which can only classify hydrology at a single point (i.e., the gauge). Continuous classification increases our ability to describe spatial patterns in hydrology, which could markedly affect how a river is managed. © 2023 The Author(s). Open Access CC-BY licence.en_AU
dc.description.sponsorshipThis project was carried out as part of the lead author's PhD research, with financial support from the Australian Government's Research Training Program (RTP), the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) through its Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub (Project 1.3.3), and the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering through the Postgraduate Research Awards (PGRA - ALNSTU12627).en_AU
dc.identifier.articlenumber130266en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0022-1694en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of Hydrologyen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130266en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130266en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/15457en_AU
dc.identifier.volume626en_AU
dc.languageEnglishen_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevieren_AU
dc.relation.uriTayer, T. C., Beesley, L. S., Douglas, M. M., Bourke, S. A., Meredith, K., & McFarlane, D. (2023). Identifying intermittent river sections with similar hydrology using remotely sensed metrics. Journal of Hydrology, 626, 130266. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130266en_AU
dc.subjectHydrologyen_AU
dc.subjectRemote sensingen_AU
dc.subjectRiversen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectWestern Australiaen_AU
dc.subjectSurface watersen_AU
dc.subjectFresh wateren_AU
dc.subjectMappingen_AU
dc.titleIdentifying intermittent river sections with similar hydrology using remotely sensed metricsen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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