Estimates of low flow and flood frequency in several southwestern Wisconsin basins were improved by determining land cover from LANDSAT imagery. With the use of estimates of land cover in multiple-regression techniques, the standard error of estimate (SE) for the least annual 7-day low flow for 2- and 10-year recurrence intervals of ungaged sites were lowered by 9% each. The SE of flood frequency in the 'Driftless Area' of Wisconsin for 10-, 50-, and 100-year recurrence intervals were lowered by 14%. Four of nine basin characteristics determined from satellite imagery were significant variables in the multiple-regression techniques, whereas only 1 of the 12 characteristics determined from topographic maps was significant. The percentages of land cover categories in each basin were determined by merging basin boundaries, digitized from quadrangles, with a classified LANDSAT scene. Both the basin boundary X-Y polygon coordinates and the satellite coordinates were converted to latitude-longitude for merging compatibility

Allord, G. J.

Scarpace, F. L.

English

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IMPROVING STREAbTLOW ESTIMATES THROUGH THE USE OF LANDSAT
By G. J. Allordl/
 and F. L. Scarpace?/
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(981-10129) IMPROVING STREAMFLow ESTIMATESTHROUGH THE USE OF LANDSAT (Geolociical
	
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-23542
Survey, Malaysia.) 16 p HC 102/Mi A01
CSCL 08H
	 Unclas
G3/43 00129
1/Gregory J. Allord *
Cartographer
U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Divisicn
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
608 263-7101
?/Frank L. Scarpace, Associate Professor
Inztitute for Environmental Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
608 263-3973/262-1405
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ABSTRACT
Estimates of low flow and flood frequency in several southwestern Wisconsin
basins have been significantly improved by determining land cover from Landsat
imagery. With the use of new estimates of land cover in multiple-regression
techniques, the standard error of estimate (SE) for the least annual 7-dav low
flow for 2- and 10-year recurrence intervals of ungaged sites were lowered by
9 percent each. The SE of flood frequency in the "Driftless Area" of Wisconsin
for 10-, 50-, and 100-year recurrence intervals were lowered by 14 percent.
Four of nine basin characteristics determined from satellite imagery were significant
variables in the multiple-regression techniques, whereas only 1 of the 12
characteristics determined from topographic maps was significant. The percentages
of land-cover categories in each basin were determined by merging basin boundaries,
digitized from quadrangles, with a classified Landsat scene. Both the basin
boundary X-Y polygon coordinates and the satellite coordinates were converted to
latitude-longitude for merging compatibility.
KEY TM S: Low Flow, Peak Discharge, Regression Analysis, Land Use, Wisconsin,
Landsat
IMPROVING STRMWIFLOW ESTIMATES THROUGH THE USE OF LANDSAT
By G. J. Allord and F. L. Scarpace
INTRODUCTION
Comprehensive water-resosrces management needs information on streamflow
characteristics. Complete streamfljw information requires techniques to extrapolate
available information to ungaged sites.
Thomas and Benson (1970) demonstrated that streamflow characteristics can
be related to basin characteristics. This method regresses a streamflow characteristic
against the basin characteristics of the gaged sites. The technique provides
equations that define streamflow characteristics in terms of statistically
signi ficant basin characteristics. These equations then may be used to estimate
streamflow characteri:1t:es at ungaged sites where long-term records are not
available.
Land use is one of the basin characteristics shown to influence streamflow.
Traditionally, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has measured these land-use
areas in Wisconsin from topographic maps, these being the best data available on
a statewide basis. Landsat imagery can be used to provide up-to-date land-cover
information over large areas with the advantage of spacial and temporal consistency.
Two basins in southwestern Wisconsin were selected to demonstrate that
determination of land use through Landsat imagery could improve the equations
developed to predict streamflow characteristics at ungaged sites. The basins
were selected because relations had been developed for the two basins, and for
many subbasins within each basin, based on basin characteristics determined by
conventional techniques.
2
BASIN DESCRIPTION
The two basins selected for study are the lower Wisconsin River basin and
:;,3.1
	 the Pecatonica-Sugar River basin (fig. 1). The major part of both basins lies
91	 in the "Driftless Area" of Wisconsin. This area is termed "Driftless Area"
because it is not covered by glacial drift, except for some alluvial and lake
deposits in valleys (fig. 1). The topography of the "Driftless Area" consists
of rugged, steep-walled valleys and high relief. Agriculture, especially in the
lower Wisconsin River basin, is confined to valley floors and hilltops because
of the steepness of the slopes. The remaining part of each basin consists of
rolling hills and wide valley floors formed by the unconsolidated glacial deposits
that overlie the sandstone bedrock.
LANDSAT IMAGE CLASSIFICATION
The Landsat scene (5386-15325, May 9, 1976) that covers the two river
basins was analyzed to provide land-cover information. This particular Landsat
scene was selected because it covered both basins, the season was well suited
for determination of land-cover types, and atmospheric conditions and image
quality were acceptable.
The digital-image processing of the Landsat scene (fig. 2) was begun on
the Image-100 Syste:a3/ at the EROS Data Center. Final classification, digitizing
of the cartographic data base, and the merging of the map information with the
Landsat scene was completed on the University of Wisconsin-Madison Univac 1110 ;1-
Computer System. The land-use and land-cover classification system suggested by
Anderson and others (1976) was used as a guide for the definition of Level I
(Landsat type of data) land-use categories.
3/The use of trade names in this report is for identification only and
does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey.
3
I	 1	 0	 20	 40	 60 MILES
( Figure 1. Location of Pecatonica-Sugar and lower Wisconsin
River basins in Wisconsin.
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The followinZ land-use categories were classified: forest, grassland,
water, wetland, mixed vegetation types, bare soil, and cropland. Areas }mown to
be representative of each land-use category were selected, and the spec. .. i
signatures from each area were determined. These s'gnatures then were used to
classify the rest of the image into land-use categories. Final classification
of the land uses was done through the use of an unsupervised parallelepiped
classifier with a minimum distance-to-mean check for potentially overlapping
classes. The results of this classification were stored on a computer tape and
merged with the digitized basin boundaries provided by the technique described
in the following section.
CARTOGRAPHIC DATA BASE
Basin boundaries, drawn on U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 and 1:62,500
quadrangles, were digitized at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Cartographic
Laboratory. The line segments were converted from digitizer coordinates to
latitude and longitude coordinates and stored in a data base, identified by the
site-identification code assigned by the USGS downstream site-numbering system.
The site-identification code is used to retrieve all the coordinates that would
draw the polygon outline of the basin. The computer program provides the
outline of a basin composed of several subbasins by compiling only the outside
boundaries of the individual subbasins.
MERGING W. DSAT AND CARTOGRAPHIC INFOR.'•SATION
Although the geometry of the Landsat scene is, in general, stable and
relatively good, individual nonlinearities and irregularities may beY
	
,	 	 	 present.
Accurate merging of satellite coordinates and latitude and longitude coordinates
requires registry based on established ground-control points. Regression procedures
6
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are used to develop equations relating the Landsat scene coordinates to
latitude/longitude coordinates at each control point. A detailed discussion of
this procedure by Fisher and others is published in "Photogrammetric EcL, 	 Bring
and Remote Sensing", April 1979• Control points usually selected are conspicuous
land features, such as penninsulas and islands. Residual errors of less than
two pixels (picture element) in predicted versus actual row-column coordinates
were determined.
The basin boundary latitude and longitude coordinates stored in the cartographic
base are converted, by the geometrically controlled regression equations, to
Landsat row-column coordinates. The selected drainage basin is outlined, and
the total amount of each land-use type within that individual basin is tabulated
digitally and printed out (fig. 3).
Landsat coordinates were determined for an area on the west side of Madison,
Wis., to verify the accuracy of the conversion technique. Land use was also
classified to verify the classification technique. The predicted basin boundary
agreed.to actual location with an accuracy error of + one pixel. The land-use
classifications agreed with visual spot checks.
LOCI-FLOW REGRESSION ANALYSIS
The land-use data obtained from the Landsat imagery were used in a step-
forward regression analyses, as outlined by Thomas and Benson (1970), to develop
relations for low flow and floodflows. The equations with the lowest standard
error of estivate with all variables significant at the 99 percent or the 95 percent
confidence level were selected as the best equations for prediction. The resultant
equations were compared to those developed using conventional land-use data.
Low-flow relations were developed for the lower Wisconsin River basin
(fig. L) based on data for 27 subbas:ins. The standard error of estimate (SE)
E
7
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Tabular total for Allen Cr near Albany
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Land•use classification of Allen Creek
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No. Theme No. of Pixels
0 Unclassified 1386
1 Forest 8426
2 Grass 8021
3 Water 186
4 Wetlands 1813
5 Mixed veg. 2847
6 Bare soil 9996
7 Cropland 7003
Figure 3. Steps for extracting land-use areas for a basin.
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1
fcr the relation "7,2 (least annum. 7-day low flow for 2-year recurrence intervals)
developed using Landsat imagery was 35 percent (table 1) as compared to an SE of
44 percent for the relation developed using conventional land-use data. 	 ,.e SE
for the 0-7 1 7 .0 
(10-year recurrence intervals) relation was reduced from 52 to
41 percent (table 1) when Landsat data were used. A reduced standard error of
estimate indicates less variance about the relation, therefore the predictive
capability of equation is improved.
Gebert (1977) showed that the Q7,2 and C^ 10 relations were improved by
using an additional basin characteristic, the base-flow index (Gebert, 1977,
P. 15)• The improved relations reported by Gebert are equations 3 and 5 in
table 1. Through the use of lzrd-use data obtained from Landsat imagery and
including the base-flow index, the E for the Q7 , 2 relation decreased from 23 to
19 percent, and the SE for the 
`7,10 relation decreased from 32 to 26 percent
,b elt	 (table 1).
Land-use data lased on Landsat imagery for 43 subbasins (fig. 4) were used
to develop Q7,2 and 07.30 ,elations for the Pecatonica-Sugar Fiver basin as
well. The SE's for ti.ese new relations showed no reduction. This occurred
because only area and the base-flow index were significant in the relations.
The land use of this basin apparently does not affect low flow as it does in the
lower Wisconsin River basin.
FLOOD-FRE''ZUENCY REORFSSION ANALYSTS
Flood-frequency relations were also developed for the sections of the lower
Wisconsin River and the Pecatonica-Su;ar River basins in the "Driftless Area".
The relati ons were developed through the use of Landsat land -use data, and these
were compared to similar relations developed from conventional sources. Data
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for 14 subbasins were used to develop relations representing flood peaks with
recurrence intervals of 10, 50, and 100 years (P 10 , P50' and. P100
	
The ?i0 and
P50 relations developed through the use of Landsat imagery had SE's of _o 6nd
17 percent, respectively, compared with SE's of 29 and 31 percent, respectively,
le
	
for the relations developed using conventional land-use data (table 2). The SE
r
	
	 for the P100 relation was reduced from 34 to 17 percent when Landsat data were
used. These represent significant improvements in the predictive relations.
SUMMARY
The Q7,2 and Q'7,10 low-flow relations in the lower Wisconsin River basin
were improved 17 to 20 percent when Landsat land-use data were used in developing
the relations. Land use did not prove to be a significant variable in the
Pecatonica-Sugar River basin for low-flow estimates. Estimates for the flood-
frequency relation with recurrence intervals of 10, 50 and 100 years were
improved 45 to 50 percent.
Landsat data can be used to significantly improve relations for predicting
streamflow characteristics. These improvements will result in a more accurate
determination of water resources and will aid in management decisions.
13
`	 r
SELECTED REFERENCES
Anderson, J. R., Hardy, E. E., Roach, J. T., and Witmer, R. E., 1976. Aland
use and land cover system for use with remote sensing data. U.S. ..-. Ogical
Survey Professional Paper 964, 28 p.
Fisher, L. T., Scarpace, F. L., and Thomsen, R. G., 1979. Multidata landsat
lake quality monitoring program. Institute of Photogrammetric Engineering
and Remote Sensing, v. 45, no. 4, P. 519-527.
Gebert, W. A., 1978. Low-flow characteristics of streams in the lower Wisconsin
River basin. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations 77-118,
8o p.
Heimes, F. J., Moore, G. K., and Steele, T. D., 1978. Preliminary applications
of Landsat images and aerial photography for determining land-use, geologic,
and hydrologic characteristics--Yarnpa River basin, Colorado and Wyoming.
U.S. Geological Survey Eater-Resources Investigations 78-96, 48 p.
Holliday, E. F., and Pluhowski, E. J., 1976. Improving estimates of stream flow
characteristics. In: ERTS-1, A new window on our planet. U.S. Geological
Survey Professional Paper 929, p. 136-138.
Pluhowski, E. J., 1977. Application of remotely sensed land-use information t3
improve estimates of streamfloc: characteristics. U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 77-632, 85 P.
Thomas, D. M., and Benson, M. A., 1970. Generalization of streamflow characteristics
from drainage-basin characteristics. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply
Paper 1955, 55 P.
E 1
M 14
ILLUSTRATI0NS
Figure 1. Map showing location of the Pecatonica-Sugar and lower
Wisconsin River basins in Wisconsin
Figure 2. Annotated color-composite Landsat-1 image of southwestern
Wisconsin (5386-15325)
Figure 3• Steps for extracting land-use areas for a basin
Figure 4. Map showing location of basins used for estimating low-flow
characteristics


Improving streamflow estimates through the use of LANDSAT

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