Data from: Pre-Failure Operational Anomalies of the Kakhovka Dam Revealed by Satellite Data

Qing Yang, Xinyi Shen, Kang He, Qingyuan Zhang, Sean Helfrich, William Straka III, Josef M. Kellndorfer, Emmanouil N. AnagnostouAbstract:On June 6, 2023, the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine experienced a catastrophic breach that led to the loss of life and substantial economic values. Prior to the breach, the supporting structures downstream of the spillway had shown signs of being compromised. Here, we use multi-source satellite data, meteorological reanalysis, and dam design criteria to document the dam’s pre-failure condition. We find that anomalous operation of the Kakhovka dam began in November 2022, following the destruction of a bridge segment, which led to persistent overtopping from late April 2023 up to the breach, contributing to the erosion of the spillway foundation. Moreover, our findings also highlight safety and risk-reduction measures pivotal in avoiding such scenarios. To help prevent future disasters, we advocate for greater transparency in the design parameters of key water structures to enable risk management, and conclude that remote sensing technology can help ensuring water infrastructure safety.Data repository corresponding to: [e-mail] repository contains underlying data and code for the main manuscript figures. Data for Figure 2 is from PlanetScope. Other raw data source are also concluded as follows:The Sentinel-2 and Landsat images used in this study are accessible at https://www.sentinel-hub.com/index.html. The PlanetScope images are obtained through https://www.planet.com/. The Sentinel-1 images were acquired from https://asf.alaska.edu/. The reservoir water levels can be found at https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/global_reservoir/. The GloFAS-ERA5 river discharge reanalysis data are available at https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cems-glofas-historical?tab=overview.

作者：Qing Yang、Xinyi Shen、Kang He、Qingyuan Zhang、Sean Helfrich、William Straka III、Josef M. Kellndorfer、Emmanouil N. Anagnostou
摘要：2023年6月6日，乌克兰卡霍夫卡大坝发生灾难性溃坝，造成人员伤亡与重大经济损失。溃坝发生前，溢洪道下游的支撑结构已显现受损迹象。本研究借助多源卫星数据、气象再分析资料及大坝设计标准，对大坝溃坝前的状态进行了系统记录与分析。研究发现，2022年11月某桥桥段损毁后，卡霍夫卡大坝开始出现异常运行状态；自2023年4月下旬起，大坝持续发生漫顶现象，最终导致溢洪道地基被侵蚀，直至溃坝发生。此外，本研究结果还凸显了规避此类灾害的关键安全与风险防控措施。为防范未来同类灾害，我们呼吁提升关键水利工程设计参数的透明度，以助力风险管理，并得出结论：遥感技术可有效保障水利基础设施安全。
本研究对应数据仓库联系人：[e-mail]。该仓库包含支撑主稿件配图的基础数据与代码。图2的数据来源于行星影像（PlanetScope）。其他原始数据来源如下：本研究使用的哨兵-2卫星（Sentinel-2）与陆地卫星（Landsat）影像可通过https://www.sentinel-hub.com/index.html获取；行星影像（PlanetScope）影像通过https://www.planet.com/获取；哨兵-1卫星（Sentinel-1）影像来自https://asf.alaska.edu/；水库水位数据可从https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/global_reservoir/查询；GloFAS-ERA5河道流量再分析数据可在https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cems-glofas-historical?tab=overview获取。