Estimation of river discharge from non-trapezoidal open channel using QuickBird-2 satellite imagery

River discharge is traditionally acquired by measuring water stage and then converting the water stage to discharge by using a stage-discharge rating curve. The possibility of monitoring river discharge by satellite has not been adequately studied hitherto, because of the difficulty in making sufficiently precise measurements of the water surface. Since the successful launch of commercial satellites with very-high-resolution sensors, it has become possible to derive ground information from satellite data. To determine river discharge in a non-trapezoidal open channel, all efficient approach has been developed that uses mainly satellite data. The method, which focuses on the measurement of surface water width coupled with river width-stage and remote stage-discharge rating curves, was applied to the Yangtze River (Changjiang) and an accurate estimate of river discharge was obtained. The method can be regarded as ancillary to traditional field measurement methods or other remote sensing methods.