Estimation of water volume in ungauged, dynamic floodplain lakes

Abstract

Lakes play a crucial role in retaining water and altering biogeochemical processes on floodplains. Existing strategies and algorithms for estimation of water storage are insufficient for dynamic floodplain lakes due to the scarcity of available observations. Combining a time series of open water area with a fine spatial-temporal resolution by integrating Landsat and MODIS observations of Poyang Lake (China) with digital elevation models, and limited gauge data, generated water storage estimates as a function of surface hydrological connectivity. Despite possessing a relatively small portion of Poyang Lake's water volume, the floodplain lakes occupy a large part of the surface water area, especially in the low water period. Floodplain lakes, in particular, those distributed in the upper delta contribute to relieving drought conditions in Poyang Lake.