Paper Details

A repeatable and reliable procedure to determine the water depth, surface water area, and storage capacity of a Dam’s reservoir is needed for effective utilization and sustainable management of a Dam. The conventional approaches to mapping bathymetry are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and require huge capital investment. These problems constitute a setback, particularly in low budget and low-accuracy projects, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. The conventional hydrography survey methods can now be determined using the emerging Satellite Remote Sensing techniques. Lamentably most of the models developed for this approach are based on tidal waters environs, and the comprehensive use of the approach to study Nigeria’s Dams and inland water bodies remains less explored. This paper attempts to use a modified rotation transformation matrix model of Van Hengel and Spitzer (1991) in a non-tidal environment to study the water depth and surface water area variation of the Zobe Dam from 1986 to 2022. This study demonstrated that, with a few modifications, it is possible to use the model in a non-tidal water environment. The study also confirmed the alarming decreasing trends of the water depth and the overtime surface ware area variations of Zobe Dam. The study's results have some policy, operational, and managerial implications. Therefore, the government and organizations responsible for water resource management are encouraged to take advantage of the remote sensing technology as an alternate window for monitoring the water status of the Dams. Key Words: Surface water area, Water Depth, Remotes Sensing, Bathymetry Survey, Satellite imageries, Landsat and Zobe Dam