Kathar et al. (2026) Comparative Study of Thresholding Techniques for Water Body Detection Using MNDWI and Sentinel-2 Data

Identification

• Journal: Lecture notes in networks and systems
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Shriram P. Kathar, Ajay D. Nagne, Pradnya L. Awate, Shivani Bhosle, Prapti Deshmukh
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-15407-1_15

Research Groups

• Dr. G. Y. Pathrikar College of Computer Science and IT, MGM University, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, India

Short Summary

This study evaluates seven global thresholding techniques for water body detection using the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and Sentinel-2 data over the Jayakwadi Dam. It identifies the Minimum Thresholding Method as the most effective, achieving an overall accuracy of 99.86%.

Objective

• To evaluate and identify the optimal global thresholding method for delineating water bodies using the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and high-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Jayakwadi Dam, Maharashtra, India.
• Temporal Scale: Data captured on May 28, 2024.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) for water detection. Seven global thresholding techniques were evaluated: Otsu, Li, Yen, ISODATA, Mean, Triangle, and Minimum thresholding. Support Vector Machine (SVM) was used for generating a reference classification for accuracy assessment.
• Data sources: High-resolution Sentinel-2 Level 2 satellite imagery.

Main Results

• All evaluated thresholding methods achieved an overall accuracy of 90% or higher.
• The Minimum Thresholding Method demonstrated the highest performance, yielding an overall accuracy of 99.86% and an F1 score of 0.9986.
• The Otsu and Li methods followed closely in performance.
• The Mean thresholding method performed the least effectively among the tested methods, with an overall accuracy of 90.18%.
• The study concluded that the Minimum Thresholding Method is the most effective technique for accurately delineating water body areas using MNDWI.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of seven global thresholding techniques for water body detection using MNDWI and Sentinel-2 data.
• Identifies the Minimum Thresholding Method as the optimal technique for accurate water body delineation in the study area, offering quantitative performance metrics.
• Contributes to the selection of robust methodologies for remote sensing-based water resource monitoring.

Funding

• Mahatma Jyotiba Phule fellowship (MJPRF -2022), An Autonomous Institute of The OBC Bahujan Welfare Department, Govt. of Maharashtra.

Citation

@article{Kathar2026Comparative,
  author = {Kathar, Shriram P. and Nagne, Ajay D. and Awate, Pradnya L. and Bhosle, Shivani and Deshmukh, Prapti},
  title = {Comparative Study of Thresholding Techniques for Water Body Detection Using MNDWI and Sentinel-2 Data},
  journal = {Lecture notes in networks and systems},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-15407-1_15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-15407-1_15}
}