Identifying channel seepage using pre-dawn thermal imagery

I.J. McGowen1
NSW Agriculture, 161 Kite Street (Locked Bag 21), Orange NSW Australia 2800
S.L. Duff
Jemalong Irrigation Ltd, PO Box 520, Forbes NSW Australia 2871
I. Smith
NSW Agriculture, Camp Street (PO Box 369), Forbes NSW Australia 2871
1
Corresponding author - Phone: 61-2-63913195, Fax: 61-2-63913767
Email: ian.mcgowen@agric.nsw.gov.au

Abstract A combination of pre-dawn airborne thermal infra-
red imagery, Landsat TM imagery and GIS land use data were
used in a preliminary assessment of seepage from an earthen
irrigation supply channel (canal). Surface seepage was not de-
tected, but deep seepage appeared to be occurring from the
channel into permeable layers associated with prior
stream/paleo-channel networks, where the channel crossed or
ran along these ne tworks.
I. INTRODUCTION
been estimated at up to 3,000 ML/year (over a channel length
of approximately 30 km) [4].
This study aimed to use pre-dawn thermal infrared im-
agery to detect differences in soil moisture associated with
channel seepage, to identify critical zones of the channel for
sealing/remediation. The assumption was that leakage sites
adjacent to or near the channel system would be of a higher
soil moisture than non-leakage sites, and show as warmer
areas on the thermal imagery [3].

Loss of irrigation water due to seepage in earthen chan-
nels (canals) is an important consideration in irrigation areas.
In a recent survey of irrigation authorities in Australia, seep-
age losses were estimated as 4.2% of all water delivered (320
GL/year). However, estimates of water losses that could not
be accounted for averaged 17.5% of total delivered volume
[1], suggesting much greater seepage losses. These not only
represent the loss of a valuable resource, but also contribute
to groundwater recharge and, potentially, salinisation and
waterlogging. Despite this, in Australia, quantitative tech-
niques of assessing where channel seepage is occurring are
less common than visual inspection [2]. This is in part due to
the cost of such techniques. Although not a direct measure of
seepage, remote sensing can be used to detect where seepage
is occurring. In particular, thermal infrared remote sensing is
useful as a primary survey technique to identify seepage sites
[3], particularly when combined with other techniques to
more accurately assess the sites and quantify losses. This
relates well to the needs of irrigation authorities, as cost and
speed were rated as the most important criteria in channel
seepage assessment [1].
Remote sensing techniques were used to attempt to iden-
tify areas of channel seepage along the Warroo main channel
in the Jemalong Irrigation District (147.56E, 33.45S). This
is a small irrigation area covering approximately 90,000 ha
near the Lachlan River in Central Western NSW, Australia.
The district has areas of salinity and high water tables, and
certain reaches of the main (earthen) irrigation channels are
known to lose substantial amounts of water through seepage.
Total seepage losses from the Warroo main channel have
The thermal imagery was combined with Landsat The-
matic Mapper (TM) imagery and Geographic Information
System (GIS) land use data to improve the reliability of the
mapping, as deep rather than surface seepage was found to
occur. The final analysis identified deep channel seepage as
occurring into prior stream (paleo-channel) networks adjacent
to the irrigation channel system.
II. METHODOLOGY AND R ESULTS
Pre-dawn thermal infrared imagery was captured over the
district on 21st March 1996 by Air Target Services, using a
Daedalus 1268 airborne thematic mapper mounted in a Gates
Learjet 35A. This sensor captures one thermal infrared data
stream in two bands, band 11 (the standard data stream) with
a range of 8.5 13 m and band 12, which is user adjustable
[5]. For this flight, band 12 was set to have a two times gain
over band 11. Imagery was captured between 0059 and 0358
hours Eastern Standard Time at an altitude of approximately
2700 m ASL and a speed of approximately 405 km/hr. A
pixel size of 5 m was selected, giving a swath width of ap-
proximately 3.1 km. Twenty strips of imagery ranging from
10 50 km in length were captured, covering the irrigation
district and surrounding areas. The strips proved extremely
distorted and difficult to georeference. They were finally
registered to 1993 SPOT panchromatic imagery, which had
been georeferenced using differential Global Positioning
System ground control points. To remove the extreme non-
linear distortion, the piecewise affine model in TNT-MIPS
was used, with cubic convolution resampling and between
350 and 1100 ground control points per strip.

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 Initially, density slicing was carried out on both thermal
bands. The high gain band (band 12) showed the best differ-
entiation of features (both warm and cool), so band 11 was
not used for further analysis. The original intention was to
identify areas of warm soil close or adjacent to the channel
systems, which should have been associated with high mois-
ture content due to surface seepage. The oscillations in tem-
perature in moist soil are less than those for dry soil, and
moist soil cools more slowly after sunset [3, 6]. However,
the warm areas on the imagery near the Warroo channel sys-
tem were not associated with seepage. They were primarily
irrigated paddocks, free water (where irrigation was under
way) and timber.
Instead, areas of known seepage were associated with
very cool zones on the thermal imagery. These zones ap-
peared to be part of a prior stream/paleo-channel network
across the landscape. Deep seepage was apparently occurring
from the Warroo channel into permeable layers associated
with these networks, and these subsurface characteristics
were detected on the thermal imagery [5, 6]. The prior
stream networks intersected the channel at several points, and
at other locations ran adjacent to or along the channel. Ap-
parently, the channel had been constructed along the highest
points in the landscape, which were the banks of these
streams. The main leakage appeared to be occurring at or
near these intersection points.
To provide more information, particularly on interactions
of the land use and vegetation with seepage zones, an ortho-
rectified Landsat TM image was obtained for the 1st April
1996. Originally, this was to assist in identifying sites likely
to be confounded with seepage on the thermal imagery (eg.
dense vegetation) [3]. The Landsat imagery proved useful
for preliminary validation as, despite the poor spatial resolu-
tion of the Landsat thermal band, cool areas in this band were
associated with the larger-sized cool seepage areas identified
on the pre-dawn thermal imagery. However, the Landsat
imagery proved useful in identifying vegetation associated
with the seepage areas, in conjunction with a large range of
GIS data available for the district. These GIS data had been
captured for the development of a sustainable Land and Wa-
ter Management Plan, prior to the hand over of the admini-
stration of the district to Jemalong Irrigation Limited. These
data included property and paddock boundaries, layout for
irrigation, irrigation type, land use, the location of remnant
vegetation and channel infrastructure.
Known and suspected seepage areas in the district are
commonly used for growing dryland lucerne. Lucerne is
grown in these areas for interception purposes, to draw down
the watertable, and opportunistically. The suspected seepage
areas extend along large reaches of the supply channel, and
were originally identified from previous surveys, piezometer
networks and from local knowledge [4]. We considered the
best means to identify the extent and location of actual seep-
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age zones along the supply channel was to integrate the im-
agery and GIS layers within a certain distance from the chan-
nel network. Firstly, all dryland lucerne paddocks within a
200 m buffer zone either side of the channel network were
selected from the GIS data. Vegetation indices were then
calculated from the Landsat TM data to attempt to identify
the most vigorously growing areas of dryland lucerne. The
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was ini-
tially used, but proved only partially successful. Although
one of the few areas of active growth at the time of imagery
capture, the dryland lucerne paddocks were usually heavily
grazed, particularly late in the growing season. Conse-
quently, they were not well distinguished. As an alternative,
the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index No. 2
(MSAVI2) was used [7]. This index is less sensitive to bare
soil than the NDVI, and proved better at distinguishing the
dryland lucerne paddocks. A series of thresholds were tested
to find the range of data values that best delineated areas of
vigorous growth within these paddocks.
A similar assessment was made on band 12 of the thermal
imagery, to discern what threshold gave best delineation of
the known seepage areas. These were identified by tone,
shape, and adjacency to the channel system. Approximate
locations were also determined from a previous study, which
used seepage meters within the channel [4].
Using the threshold values, the two sets of image data
were combined with the GIS data in a model in ERDAS
Imagine, to identify the likely seepage zones. These were
strongly associated with the prior stream/paleo-channel net-
works.
III DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Surface seepage was not detected in this study. This may
have been due to the extremely dry conditions prior to im-
agery capture, or a lack of surface seepage from the channel
system. The output from density slicing (thresholding) the
thermal imagery and from the combined data analysis indi-
cated that major seepage zones were correlated with a prior
stream/paleo-channel network that intersected the supply
channel system. The intersection points between the prior
stream network and the Warroo channel appeared to be the
major leakage points. The correlation of cool areas on the
Landsat thermal band with those identified on the airborne
imagery suggested a high thermal inertia in these areas. The
most likely reason is that water from the irrigation supply
channels had leaked into and moved along these old river
beds/channels.
Local knowledge and the previous seepage survey had in-
dicated seepage was occurring, and local landholders were
encouraged to plant dryland lucerne adjacent to the supply
channel system. The lucerne, being a very deep rooted plant,
appeared to have tapped the water in the old river beds.
Vegetative vigour (as measured by the MSAVI2) was greater
in prior stream areas within the paddocks. Combining the
thermal imagery with the Landsat imagery and GIS data pro-
vided a means of determining that seepage was actually oc-
curring, and a guide to where it was occurring. In addition, it
provided information on the areas to which the seepage water
was moving.
These findings have not yet been validated, and require
additional field surveys along and within the supply channel
network. These may include electromagnetic induction
(EM31) survey along the channel bed and batters (to provide
information on soil differences within the channel), and
ponding/seepage meter testing of selected areas.
REFERENCES
[1] Australian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (2000),
Open channel seepage and control, Vol 1.2 Current knowledge of
channel seepage issues and measurement in the Australian rural wa-
ter industry. ANCID, August 2000.
[2] Australian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (2000),
Open channel seepage and control, Vol 1.1 Literature review of
channel seepage identification and measurement. ANCID, August
2000.
[3] M. D. Nellis (1982), Application of thermal infrared imagery to canal
seepage detection, Remote Sensing of Environment, 12, 229-234.
[4] A. van der Lely (1993), Channel seepage from Warroo main canal,
Jemalong Irrigation District, Technical Report No. 93/04, NSW De-
partment of Water Resources, 1993.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS [5] D. H. de Vries (1996), Pre-dawn thermal infra red a successful

The assistance of Jemalong Irrigation Limited (GIS data
and use of the imagery); Rei Beumer, NSW Department of
[6]
Land and Water Conservation, (imagery capture); Don
deVries, CanSyd Pty Ltd, and Mike Peters, Geoimage Pty Ltd
(technical advice); and Gillian McRobert, Catherine Cook
[7]
and David McGowen (georeferencing) is gratefully acknowl-
edged.
airborne data set, Proceedings of the 8 th Australasian Remote Sensing
Conference, 25 th-29th March, Canberra, ACT, Australia (CDROM).
V.I. Myer (1975), Crops and soils in Manual of Remote Sensing,
Vol 2, R.G. Reeves, A. Anson and D. Landen, Eds, American Society
of Photogrammetry: USA, pp 1715-1813.
J. Qi., A. Chenbouni, A.R. Huete and Y.H. Kerr (1994), Modified
soil adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI), Remote Sensing of Envi-
ronment, 48 (2), 119-126.

The State of New South Wales, Australia

NSW Agriculture, 2001.

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