CoAuthors

Bjerklie Dave (USGS, USA); Carabajal Claudia (Sigma Space Corp, USA)

Both radar and laser altimetry can be utilized to monitor both water level variations and channel surface gradients for the largest river systems around the world. Here, we focus on the Yukon River, Alaska. Despite it’s extent and complexity, and the issues of flooding, few US and Canadian gauges exist across the basin. Both standard (Jason-2, ENVISAT) and enhanced (SARAL, CRYOSAT-2) radar altimetry, and laser altimetry (ICESat-1), offers spatially and temporally varying measurements and multiple data sets allow for cross-validations. Here, we re-examine the performance of the various instruments with focus on tracking, acquisition, and elevation accuracy. We also discuss the merits of combining the data sets and look to their application with respect to the determination of river discharge. Applications are nationally based with basin hydrology, conservation, and hazards, as the main objectives.