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ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 5, pp. 136-152

A method for spatio-temporal synthesis of high-frequency altimetric water level observations

M.V. Vrublevsky 1 , E.A. Loupian 1 , M.A. Burtsev 1 
1 Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 18.08.2026
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-5-136-152
The paper proposes a method for spatio-temporal synthesis of high-frequency altimetric water level observations (SHAWL) using altimetry data and a time-limited archive of in situ measurements. The method enables generation of daily water level time series at altimetry virtual stations (AVS), including those located in areas not covered by ground-based observations for periods with available in situ data, as well as reconstruction of water level time series with a temporal resolution exceeding the frequency of satellite revisit time for periods when in situ measurements are absent. Testing of the method on the Amur River demonstrates its effectiveness: a comparison of the time series obtained at 38 AVS with data from the nearest gauging stations showed an average Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.89 and a root mean square error of 0.65 m for the 2023–2025 period. The obtained estimates are comparable to other existing approaches cited in the paper. The application of this method resulted in an increase in the temporal resolution of water level series at any given AVS from 1–3 measurements per month to approximately one measurement every three days. In addition to being easily transferable to other rivers in Russia, the proposed method provides high-frequency water level data for river sections not covered by ground-based observations. This approach increases the number of areas with sufficient spatio-temporal coverage, expanding the data availability needed to forecast flood risks and serving as a mechanism for optimizing hydrological network maintenance costs.
Keywords: satellite altimetry, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-6, Vega-Hydro, water level, altimetry virtual stations, spatio-temporal resolution, Amur River, SHAWL method
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