Drone- and ground-based measurements of velocity, depth, and discharge collected during 2017-18 at the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska, USA

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is actively investigating the use of innovative remote-sensing techniques to estimate surface velocity and discharge of rivers in ungaged basins and river reaches that lack the infrastructure to install conventional streamgaging equipment. By coupling discharge algorithms and sensors capable of measuring surface velocity, streamgage networks can be established in regions where data collection was previously impractical or impossible. One of the remote-sensing techniques uses a Doppler (velocity) radar (QCam) mounted and integrated on a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS or drone). QCam measures the along-track surface velocity by spot dwelling in a river cross section at a vertical where the maximum surface velocity is recorded. To evaluate the extensibility of the method, five science flights were conducted on four rivers of varying size including the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. QCam surface velocities and QCam river discharges were compared to conventional streamgaging methods.

美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey，USGS）正积极探索创新遥感技术的应用，以估算无水文监测流域，以及缺乏安装常规河道水文监测设备基础设施的河段的表面流速与河道流量。通过将流量算法与可测量表面流速的传感器相耦合，可在此前无法或难以开展数据采集的区域搭建河道水文监测网络。其中一种遥感技术采用搭载并集成于小型无人飞行器系统（small unmanned aircraft system，sUAS又称无人机）的多普勒（测速）雷达（QCam）。QCam通过在记录有最大表面流速的河道断面垂向上定点停留，来测量沿航迹方向的表面流速。为评估该方法的可扩展性，研究人员在四条不同规模的河流上开展了五次科学试飞任务，这些河流包括科罗拉多州的阿肯色河与南普拉特河，以及阿拉斯加州的萨尔查河与塔纳纳河。研究人员将QCam测得的表面流速与河道流量数据，与常规河道水文监测方法所得结果进行了对比。