Comparative assessment of remote sensing–based water dynamic in a dam lake using a combination of Sentinel-2 data and digital elevation model

Monitoring and determining the amount of water in reservoirs is of great importance in terms of water planning and management. This study proposes a geographic information system (GIS)-based methodology to estimate the water volume changes in water reservoirs. Two specific methods are proposed using Australian National University’s Digital Elevation Model (ANUDEM) raster surface and Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) surface models, both utilizing normalized difference water index (NDWI) of Sentinel 2A satellite images for water-covered area and coastline and digital elevation model (DEM) for 3D modelling of the reservoir. The most crucial part of this study is the comprehensive evaluation of the model findings considering hydrological, meteorological and anthropogenic factors, simultaneously. Application of the proposed methods is provided for the analysis of the multi-temporal water volume changes of Bayramiç Dam Lake (Çanakkale, Turkey) in two hydrological periods covering the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 water years. The results indicate that the TINS model produced water volume values much closer to the in situ Turkish General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) values than the ANUDEM model. The performance of these methods was also assessed by the temporal dynamics of surface hydrological processes. Regarding the water storage dynamics, hydro-meteorological factors influence the water input, while anthropogenic factors strongly influence the water output. Water consumption for irrigation and electricity generation was found to be the most important water budget components of the total water consumption.