Nguyen et al. (2026) A New Global Hypsometric Data Set Derived From Satellite and Geometric Methods for Reservoir Storage Estimation

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-01
• Authors: Ngoc T. Nguyen, Tien Le Thuy Du, Hyongki Lee, Hong‐Yi Li, Duong Du Bui, Hahn Chul Jung, Kuo‐Hsin Tseng
• DOI: 10.1029/2026wr043399

Research Groups

• Department of Hydrology, University of Colorado Boulder
• Institute of Water Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology

Short Summary

This study introduces a new approach to estimate reservoir hypsometric relationships using satellite and geometry-based methods, improving the accuracy of storage dynamics for global hydrological applications.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of variability in hyposometric data sets on storage estimation accuracy and develop a novel method to generate a global hypsometric data set for 7,250 reservoirs worldwide.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global (worldwide) with focus on 132 reservoirs in the United States and Vietnam.
• Temporal Scale: Not specified

Methodology and Data

• Models used: SAGE (Satellite and Geometry-based) approach, combining remote sensing and geometry-based methods.
• Data sources: Global Reservoir and Dam (GRanD) database, Global Reservoir Surface Area Data set (GRSAD), in situ Elevation-Volume (E-V) and Area-Volume (A-V) relationships.

Main Results

• The SAGE-based approach showed strong performance with median Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) of 9.2% for A-V curves and 12.4% for E-V curves.
• Reservoir storage dynamics were estimated by integrating satellite-derived surface areas from GRSAD with the SAGE-derived AEV curves, reducing errors by over 20% compared to other global AEV products.

Contributions

• This study introduced a new approach (SAGE) that improves the accuracy of hypsometric relationships and storage dynamics for global hydrological applications.
• The results demonstrated the significance of using high-quality hyposometric data sets in estimating reservoir storage changes.

Funding

• Not specified

Citation

@article{Nguyen2026New,
  author = {Nguyen, Ngoc T. and Du, Tien Le Thuy and Lee, Hyongki and Li, Hong‐Yi and Bui, Duong Du and Jung, Hahn Chul and Tseng, Kuo‐Hsin},
  title = {A New Global Hypsometric Data Set Derived From Satellite and Geometric Methods for Reservoir Storage Estimation},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2026wr043399},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2026wr043399}
}