=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2088/paper7
|storemode=property
|title=Development of a Monitoring System for Tthe Evaluation of the Hydromorphological Status of Small and Medium Sized Rivers in the Free State of Saxony
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2088/paper7.pdf
|volume=Vol-2088
|authors=Sebastian Hunger,Azimjon Sayidov,Robert Weibel,Kiran Zahra
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/agile/Hunger17
}}
==Development of a Monitoring System for Tthe Evaluation of the Hydromorphological Status of Small and Medium Sized Rivers in the Free State of Saxony==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2088/paper7.pdf
Development of a monitoring system for the evaluation of the
hydromorphological status of small and medium sized rivers
in the Free State of Saxony
Sebastian Hunger
Technische Universität Dresden
Chair of Geoinformatics
Dresden, Germany
sebastian.hunger@tu-dresden.de
Abstract
The European Water Framework Directive establishes the basis for a sustainable water policy in the European Union. The member states
of the European Community require a comprehensive knowledge and possibilities to acquire, integrate and organize the information for the
implementation of management actions in order to fulfill the requirements of this directive. Different mapping procedures have been
developed to gather information about the waterbodies. In this context the PhD project shall concentrate on the identification of important
features of rivers that can be detected and described using methods of remote sensing, image processing and geoinformatics. The acquisition
of data is performed on various spatial scales and involves ground-based images as well as digital aerial and satellite imagery.
Keywords: Water Framework Directive, Remote Sensing, Hydromorphology
1 Introduction used to a greater extent than before when water
quality was mainly described by the chemical
Environmental policy in the European Community status. In addition the distinction between water
went through various stages of development. quality and ecological quality is an important part
During the first stage the policy was more in line of the directive (Moss et al., 2003).
with the german environmental legislation which In order to prevent a decline in water quality, to
can be characterised by technical standards and protect the water bodies and their riparian zones
emission limit values that have only little reference and to force a sustainable interaction with the
to ecological consequences. The anglo- water resources the European Union established
scandinavian influence on the european the Water Framework Directive (Directive
environmental legislation became more important 2000/60/EC) to obligate the member states to
in the second stage. Since the mid-1980s these achieve the good ecological status of their water
emission-oriented technical standards have been bodies (European Communities, 2000). This proof
replaced by the establishment of environmental requires an extensive and periotic monitoring
quality objectives and environmental protection program which considers data from a biological,
experienced a shift from the sectoral to a more chemical and hydromorphological perspective. As
integrated environmental protection (Durner and a result different data acquisition systems have
Ludwig, 2008). been established. While biological and chemical
In order to avoid a long-term deterioration of parameters are usually monitored using
water quality a programme aiming at sustainable measurement stations along a river the
management and protection of water resources of hydromorphological status of a river is usually
the Community has been requested in the 1990s. assessed by field surveys or manual image
As a result the European Water Framework interpretation.
Directive has been established in the year 2000. In At this point the PhD project shall identify
principle all water resources of the European possibilities, requirements and limiting factors for
Community shall be monitored and transferred a monitoring system that meets the requirements
into the ‘good status’ by 2015 (European of small and medium sized rivers representing the
Communities, 2000). Biological measures are also
AGILE PhD School 2017 – Leeds, Octobre 30-November 01, 2017
bulk of the total length of Saxon rivers. The thesis ecological potential (Article 2.23) are evaluated
focuses in particular on: according to the classification found in Annex V
• Identification of important features of of the Water Framework Directive. In this
rivers and riparian zones according to the connection the ecological status can be
European Water Framework Directive that characterised by a biologic component (e.g.
can be detected in a variety of image composition and abundance of aquatic flora,
products ranging from Ground-based data, benthic invertebrates and fish fauna), a physico-
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle data (UAV) to chemical component (e.g. temperature, oxygen
satellite imagery concentration, salinity, nutrients, pollutants) and a
• Development of methods to extract hydromorphological component (e.g.
information mainly without user morphological conditions, continuity, hydrological
interaction for the use at multiple spatial regime) (Annex V Nr. 1.1). As stated in Article 4.4
scales and Article 4.5 various opportunities exist to
• Evaluation of these methods with respect extend the deadlines until the year 2027 and to
to the assessment of rivers and their achieve less stringent environmental objectives
environment according to the European under certain circumstances. (European
Water Framework Directive Communities, 2000).
• Transferability and Verification of these However there was and is clear evidence that the
methods planned period of time to reach the objectives is
• Application of multitemporal analyses insufficient; even the possible extension for up to
In this regard this position paper shall give a brief 12 years. Exemptions will be the rule rather than
introduction to the European Water Framework, the exception (Petersen et al., 2009). Hering et al.
possible applications of remote sensing and (2010) stated that a time frame of 15 or even 30
proposed methods. years is not sufficient to fully recover aquatic
ecosystems which also means that it will not be
2 Background possible to reach the aim of a good status for most
European water bodies.
2.1 European Water Framework Directive The aim of a good status of all surface
waterbodies exerts pressure on the member states
In principle the Water Framework Directive of the European Community to become active to
introduces the environmental objectives for an improve the condition of their waterbodies and to
integrated environmental protection. In order to justify their inaction. The obligating character of
achieve these objectives a clear time frame has the Water Framework Directive and the
been defined. By 2015 all water bodies should prohibition of deterioration shall contribute to the
have reached the ‘good status’ (Article 4.1). The success of the Water Framework Directive and the
good status itself is defined as “the status achieved protection and preservation of natural resources
by a surface water body when both its ecological (Petersen et al., 2009).
status and its chemical status are at least ‘good’ To improve the quality of surface waterbodies
“(Article 2.18). In addition the good chemical water policy has shifted from the consideration of
status is defined as “the chemical status required to administrative borders as boundaries of
meet the environmental objectives for surface management to hydrological catchments as objects
waters established in Article 4(1)(a), that is the of observation. The definition of environmental
chemical status achieved by a body of surface quality objectives and the characteristics that have
water in which concentrations of pollutants do not to be assessed mark an important step towards the
exceed the environmental quality standards harmonisation of monitoring and management
established in Annex IX and under Article 16(7), methods across Europe (Hering et al., 2010).
and under other relevant Community legislation The monitoring of surface water bodies with
setting environmental quality standards at regard to their material pollution and
Community level” (Article 2.24). The (good) hydromorphological conditions and the conditions
ecological status (Article 2.21/2.22) as well as the of the biocenosis provides the basis for the review
AGILE PhD School 2017 – Leeds, Octobre 30-November 01, 2017
of environmental objectives as a basis for planning recovery of natural hydromorphology and the
the program of actions and the monitoring of the reduction of nutrient loss in agricultural areas
implementation of the measures, the monitoring of (Arle et al., 2016).
long-term trends and the determination of the
degree and impact of accidental pollution
incidents. The Water Framework compiles a 2.2 Possible Applications of Remote Sensing
monitoring and assessment plan for the in the Scope of the Water Framework
waterbodies of the European Community and Directive
specifies the requirements for an effective
Since several decades remote sensing data has
monitoring. (cf. Annexes II and V). The
proved to be an effective instrument for the
transposition of the Water Framework Directive
observation of objects and processes of the earth
into national law is one of the tasks of the German
surface and the atmosphere on different spatial,
Working Group on Water Issues of the Federal
spectral and temporal scales. The increasing
States and the Federal Government (Bund/Länder
amount of newly acquired data will constantly
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser, LAWA). To ensure a
extend the existing archive. The utilised sensors
consistent monitoring of german waterbodies the
are capable to acquire information at different
LAWA has developed a framework for the
spectral wavelengths (visible, infrared,
assessment of surface waterbodies
microwave) and at high spatial (ranging from sub-
(‘Rahmenkonzept Monitoring’) (LAWA-
metre to kilometre) and temporal resolutions
Ausschuss „Oberirdische Gewässer und
(multiple observations per day) (Rosenqvist et al.,
Küstengewässer“ 2005).
2003a). The information can be acquired by
This working group has developed two mapping
various sensors at the same time and over a longer
procedures to obtain data about the
period of time. Due to this fact remote sensing data
hydromorphological status of a river and the
is capable to make a considerable contribution to
riparian zone: an on-site method
the investigation of surface water properties
(Bund/Länderarbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser, 1999)
(Lindell et al., 1999). Despite the comprehensive
and an overview method
amount of data the usability is often limited to a
(Bund/Länderarbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser, 2002).
certain extent since spatial and temporal
The on-site method represents the traditional way
resolutions are partly insufficient. Especially for
of capturing data. The acquisition of the 25
high spatial resolutions there is a priority for data
parameters according to the mapping guidelines is
acquisition and an unequal temporal coverage of
a time consuming and labour-intensive process to
particular areas that lead to a lack of observational
gather information about a river and its
data which in fact has an important impact on time
environment. The mapping takes place at fixed
series analyses. Therefore, the systematic data
measurement intervals. In contrast the overview
acquisition over a long period of time at an
method uses aerial imagery and different
appropriate repetition frequency for the
cartographic products for the assessment of 9
observation of temporal variations is essential
parameters. At this juncture there are only
(Rosenqvist et al., 2003b).
insufficient approaches available and there is often
The Water Framework Directive provides several
a need for a manual extraction of relevant
possibilities for the application of remote sensing
information. In this context methods of remote
data such as:
sensing, geoinformatics and image processing are
• the implementation of a systematic
of particular interest.
monitoring of surface waterbodies to
The general monitoring guidance of the Water
evaluate their condition (Article 8)
Framework Directive has led to a harmonization of
monitoring and management approaches within • the detection of the spatial distribution of
the European Union. Over the past 50 years water surface waterbodies alterations for the
quality of german waterbodies has improved but restoration of modified waterbodies
further actions are necessary to transfer all (Article 4)
waterbodies into a good status. These include the
AGILE PhD School 2017 – Leeds, Octobre 30-November 01, 2017
• the mapping and monitoring of particular particular the acquired data provided by the United
substances such nitrate, nitrogen and States Geological Survey and the European Space
phosphor (Article 10) Agency. Furthermore, aerial imagery and
topographic maps as well as elevation information
Previous investigations demonstrated the will provide another view on the river and its
usefulness of remote sensing imagery for the environment. Additional data will be acquired by
monitoring of waterbodies. A variety of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and boat
parameters were in the focus of investigation such surveys that allow a flexible acquisition of high
as chlorophyll-a (Markogianni et al., 2013), resolution imagery for detailed analyses and a
suspended matter and turbitity (Forget and spatial densification of the available data base.
Ouillon, 1998) and water surface temperatures Therefor a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera
(Díaz-Delgado et al., 2010). The has been modified to capture wavelengths of the
hydromorphological quality element is frequently near infrared. This camera can be used in
object of investigation in terms of change of river connection with an unmodified camera which is
channel planform ((Parsons and Gilvear, 2002); identical in construction to capture information in
(Chakraborty and Mukhopadhyay, 2015)), fluvial the visible and near infrarde part of the
landforms and land cover ((Gilvear et al., 2004); electromagnetic spectrum. Both cameras can be
(Parsons and Gilvear, 2002)) and the mounted on the UAV and the boat to acquire
determination of erosion and deposit areas and images of different spectral wavelength of the
volumes (Lane et al., 2003). Apan et al. (2002) river and the surrounding area. The images in turn
investigated the changes of riparian vegetation, can be used to generate 3D point clouds and high
which in fact plays an important role concerning resolution digital elevation models on the basis of
the filtering and reduction of sediment, nitrate and the structure-from-motion approach (Javernick et
phosphate (Borin et al., 2005; 2010), and the al., 2014). The realisation of UAV surveys
biodiversity and stability of river banks (Vought et provides the possibility to capture short-term
al., 1995). variations, for example seasonal variations
throughout the year. In addition, the collection of
3 Study Area different datasets offers the opportunity to
implement functionalities from the domain of data
The currently selected study area is located in the fusion. The ongoing acquisition of data allows the
catchment area of the river Freiberger Mulde application of multitemporal analyses and provides
between the cities of Nossen and Leisnig. It not only the possibility to investigate the current
comprises the border region between the Central state but also to detect qualitative and quantitative
Saxon Loess Upland and the Mulde Loess Hills. development trends. The extraction of relevant
The river Freiberger Mulde has its origin in the features will be carried out by means of different
czech part of the ore mountains. The area can be methods of remote sensing, geoinformatics and
characterized by gently rolling hills and deepened image processing based on single image elements
valleys (Haase and Mannsfeld, 2008b). The land- and image objects.
use may be described almost exclusively by
agriculture and vegetable cultivation with high 5 Acknowledgements
yields due to the soil fertility of the loess region
(Haase and Mannsfeld, 2008a). This project is supported by a grant from the
European Social Fund (ESF).
4 Methology
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