Topobathymetric 3D model reconstruction of shallow water bodies through remote sensing, GPS, and bathymetry

Abstract

Since there are no mathematical models that can calculate the Laguna de Bustillos’ water storage levels, water balance requires this data to understand the connectivity between this water body and the Cuauhtemoc aquifer. This article presents a new three-dimensional reconstruction technique based on a time series of multispectral remote sensing images, bathymetry, a topographic survey with high precision GPS, and regional contours. With the images of Landsat ETM+/OLI and Sentinel 2A from 2012 to 2013, 2016, and 2017, the contours of the water surface were extracted using the MNDWI and were associated with an elevation received from GPS. An Autonomous Surface Vehicle was also used to obtain the bathymetry of the lake. A topographic survey was carried out using GPS in populated areas, and the contour lines extracted from the INEGI Continuous Elevations Model 3.0. A DEM was constructed using ArcGIS 10.5.1, and surfaces and volumes were calculated at different elevations and compared with 16 Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI multispectral images from 1999 to 2018. The results showed that the mean of the average intersection area between the test images and the area extracted from the 3D model is above 90.9% according to the confidence interval, kappa overall accuracy 95.2–99.7%, and a coefficient 89.9–99.3%. This model proved to be very accurate on a regional scale when the water level exceeded 1971.32 meters above mean sea level and useful to evaluate and administer water resources.