River Current Measurements with Space-borne Bistatic InSAR data

Abstract:
This paper presents the potential application of space-borne Bistatic SAR data for river current retrieval. Along Track Interferometry (ATI) has been applied on Bistatic TanDEM-X acquisitions covering the Rhone River over Carmargue area in the South of France. Under some particular meteorological conditions water bodies (rivers, lakes, and water reservoirs) present a coherent interferometric signal; in those cases, high resolution measurements over rivers can be exploited for water height and/or current retrieval. Surface current estimations constitute a valuable support for hydrology applications to feed numerical models for discharge monitoring. The findings described in this paper are relevant for the upcoming missions SWOT and WAVEMILL dedicated to water height and current measurement.