Hydropower production and river rehabilitation: A case study on an alpine river

The Optimal Band Ratio Analysis (OBRA) could be considered as an efficient technique for bathymetry from optical imagery due to its robustness on substrate variability. This point receives more attention for very shallow rivers where different substrate types can contribute remarkably into total at-sensor radiance. The OBRA examines the total possible pairs of spectral bands in order to identify the optimal two-band ratio that its log transformation yields a strong linear relation with field measured water depths. This paper aims at investigating the effectiveness of additional spectral bands of newly launched WorldView-3 (WV-3) imagery in the visible and NIR spectrum through OBRA for retrieving water depths in shallow rivers. In this regard, the OBRA is performed on a WV-3 image as well as a GeoEye image of a small Alpine river in Italy. In-situ depths are gathered in two river reaches using a precise GPS device. In each testing scenario, 50% of the field data is used for calibration of the model and the remained as independent check points for accuracy assessment. In general, the effect of changes in water depth is highly pronounced in longer wavelengths (i.e. NIR) due to high and rapid absorption of light in this spectrum as long as it is not saturated. As the studied river is shallow, NIR portion of the spectrum has not been reduced so much not to reach the riverbed; making use of the observed radiance over this spectral range as denominator has shown a strong correlation through OBRA. More specifically, tightly focused channels of red-edge, NIR-1 and NIR-2 provide a wealth of choices for OBRA rather than a single NIR band of conventional 4-band images (e.g. GeoEye). This advantage of WV-3 images is outstanding as well for choosing the optimal numerator of the ratio model. Coastal-blue and yellow bands of WV-3 are identified as proper numerators while only green band of the GeoEye image contributed to a reliable correlation of image derived values and field measured depths. According to the results, the additional and narrow spectral bands of WV-3 image lead to an average determination coefficient of 67% in two river segments, which is 10% higher than that of obtained from the 4-band GeoEye image. In addition, RMSEs of depth estimations are calculated as 4 cm and 6 cm respectively for WV-3 and GeoEye images, considering the optimal band ratio.

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Assessing the effects of hydrological and chemical stressors on macroinvertebrate community in an Alpine river: The Adige River as a case study

River Research and Applications ◽

10.1002/rra.3367 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 78-87 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Monica Giulivo ◽

Elisa Stella ◽

Ettore Capri ◽

Amaiur Esnaola ◽

Miren López de Alda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Macroinvertebrate Community ◽

Alpine River

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Controlled Reservoir Drawdown—Challenges for Sediment Management and Integrative Monitoring: An Austrian Case Study—Part A: Reach Scale

Water ◽

10.3390/w12041058 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 1058 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Christoph Hauer ◽

Marlene Haimann ◽

Patrick Holzapfel ◽

Peter Flödl ◽

Beatrice Wagner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sediment Quality ◽

Suspended Sediments ◽

Monitoring Design ◽

Fine Sediments ◽

Reservoir Drawdown ◽

Storage Volume ◽

Hydropower Production ◽

Event Based ◽

Integrative Monitoring

For Europe, a reduction of 80% of the potential storage volume due to reservoir sedimentation is predicted by 2080. Sedimentation processes trigger the decrease of the storage volume and a related restriction in hydropower production. Further, the artificial downstream flushing of deposited fines has manifold effects on the aquatic ecology, including changes in morphology and sediment quality, as well as increased turbidity and subsequent stress for aquatic species. However, it is common to lower the water surface of reservoirs for technical inspections, which is not comparable to reservoir flushing operations. The presented case study deals with such a controlled drawdown beyond the operational level of the Gepatsch reservoir (Tyrol, Austria). Based on the awareness of possible ecological consequences, an advanced set of measures and an integrative monitoring design, consisting of a detailed event-based quantification of suspended sediments, changes in the morphology, especially with respect to fine sediments, and analyses of the biological quality element fish on the reach scale along the Inn River have been developed.

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A Case Study of River Rehabilitation for Fish in Northern Italy: The Panaro River Project

American Journal of Environmental Sciences ◽

10.3844/ajessp.2007.85.92 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 85-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Claudio Comoglio ◽

Enrico Pini Prato ◽

Mauro Ferri ◽

Massimiliano Gianaroli

Keyword(s):

Northern Italy ◽

River Rehabilitation

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Optimal Design of Water Pipeline and Micro-Hydro Turbine by Genetic Algorithm

10.29007/vf78 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Camillo Bosco ◽

Giuseppe Pezzinga ◽

Marco Sinagra ◽

Tullio Tucciarelli

Keyword(s):

Genetic Algorithm ◽

Rotational Velocity ◽

Economic Value ◽

Cross Flow ◽

Net Benefit ◽

Traditional Design ◽

Unit Energy ◽

Hydropower Production ◽

Water Pipeline

The economic value of the potential energy hidden in water resources is becoming more and more relevant for pipe design. In this work a new way to design drinking main waterlines, embedding also the potential hydroelectric production as pipeline benefit, is presented. The optimum design of a cross-flow turbine, on the basis of the available head jump and discharge is first outlined; the description of a genetic algorithm to minimize the total cost (pipeline plus machinery) minus the net benefit (hydropower production) is then presented. Finally, a comparison is carried out among the costs of a case study pipeline assuming a) no hydropower production and traditional design criteria and b) two different scenarios with different values of benefits per unit energy production. The two scenarios lead to hydropower production with constant impeller rotational velocity in one case and with variable impeller rotational velocity in the other one.

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A case-study evaluating river rehabilitation alternatives and habitat heterogeneity using the hydromorphological index of diversity

Journal of Ecohydraulics ◽

10.1080/24705357.2019.1680320 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

W. Gostner ◽

W. K. Annable ◽

A. J. Schleiss ◽

M. Paternolli

Keyword(s):

Habitat Heterogeneity ◽

River Rehabilitation ◽

Index Of Diversity

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A comparison between ensemble and deterministic hydrological forecasts in an operational context

Advances in Geosciences ◽

10.5194/adgeo-29-85-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 85-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

M.-A. Boucher ◽

F. Anctil ◽

L. Perreault ◽

D. Tremblay

Keyword(s):

Weather Forecasting ◽

Ensemble Forecasts ◽

Meteorological Model ◽

Resources Management ◽

Weather Forecasts ◽

Hydropower Production ◽

Forecasting System ◽

The Cost ◽

Ensemble Weather Forecasts

Abstract. Ensemble forecasts can greatly benefit water resources management as they provide useful information regarding the uncertainty of the situation at hand. However, weather forecasting systems are evolving and the cost for reanalysis and reforecasts is prohibitive. Consequently, series of ensemble weather forecasts from a particular version of the forecasting system are often short. In this case study, we consider a hydrological event that took place in 2003 on the Gatineau watershed in Canada and caused management difficulties in a hydropower production context. The weather ensemble forecasting system in place at that time is now obsolete, but we show that with minimal post-processing of the forecasts, it is still beneficial to exploit ensemble rather than deterministic forecasts, even if the latter emerge from a more advanced meteorological model and possess superior spatial resolution.

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