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Researchers Unlock New Tool to Study River Temperatures Over Large Scales
Newswise โ A team of Virginia Tech geoscientists found a new way to look at the widespread impacts of dams on river temperatures: using Landsat thermal infrared imagery to gather data on rivers across the United States. By using satellite imagery instead of site-specific on-the-ground measurements, researchers can draw from a much larger pool of data. โStudying river temperatures up- and downstream of dams have been done before, but on 10 dams or less total,โ said George Allen, associate professor of hydrology and remote sensing in the Department of Geosciences. โWeโve expanded this to over 250 dams, so we're getting much more of a large-scale understanding what's happening with river temperatures and dams.โ The study, recently published in Science Advances, tracked water temperatures up and downstream for more than 250 of the largest dams in the United States from 2013-24. Measuring thermal impact Due to limitations of satellite image resolution, the research team targeted dams located in the United States on rivers greater than 100 meters in width. In addition, the dams had to cross the entire river, creating a large obstruction. Thermal imaging was then used to create river surface temperature profiles extending both up- and downstream. The research...