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Potential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems applications for identifying groundwater-surface water exchange in a meandering river reach

H. Pai·H. Malenda·Martin A. Briggs·K. Singha·R. González-Pinzón·M. Gooseff·S.W. Tyler·AirCTEMPS Team
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Abstract

The exchange of groundwater and surface water (GW-SW), including dissolved constituents and energy, represents a critical yet challenging characterization problem for hydrogeologists and stream ecologists. Here, we describe the use of a suite of high spatial-resolution remote-sensing techniques, collected using a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS), to provide novel and complementary data to analyze GW-SW exchange. sUAS provided centimeter-scale resolution topography and water surface elevations, which are often drivers of exchange along the river corridor. Additionally, sUAS-based vegetation imagery, vegetation-top elevation, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) mapping indicated GW-SW exchange patterns that are difficult to characterize from the land surface and may not be resolved from coarser satellite-based imagery. We combined these data with estimates of sediment hydraulic conductivity to provide a direct estimate of GW “shortcutting” through meander necks, which was corroborated by temperature data at the riverbed interface.

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H. Pai, H. Malenda, Martin A. Briggs, K. Singha, R. González-Pinzón, M. Gooseff, S.W. Tyler, AirCTEMPS Team. 2017-12-11. Potential for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems applications for identifying groundwater-surface water exchange in a meandering river reach. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl075836

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