| Title: |
A fully satellite-driven workflow for hydrodynamic modeling in data-scarce coastal systems: integrating ICESat-2, Sentinel-2, SWOT and reanalysis models |
| Authors: |
Payandeh, Ali Reza; Simard, Marc; Jensen, Daniel; Campbell, Anthony Daniel; van Deventer, Heidi; Christensen, Alexandra |
| Source: |
Frontiers in Remote Sensing ; volume 7 ; ISSN 2673-6187 |
| Publisher Information: |
Frontiers Media SA |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Frontiers (Publisher - via CrossRef) |
| Description: |
Hydrodynamic models in coastal and estuarine systems are typically constrained by sparse bathymetry, boundary, and validation data, especially in regions where field campaigns are costly or impractical. Here we develop and test a fully satellite-driven framework for hydrodynamic modeling in South Africa’s Langebaan Lagoon without using any local in situ measurements. Bathymetry is derived by training multispectral Sentinel-2 reflectance against ICESat-2 ATL24 photon-derived depths using an XGBoost model optimized with Bayesian search. The final satellite derived bathymetry reproduces independent ATL24 points with RMSE = 0.45 m and R 2 = 0.97. This bathymetry was used in a depth-averaged Delft3D Flexible Mesh model driven at the open boundary by TPXO tidal harmonics and by ERA5 winds. We validate modeled water surface elevation against 16 SWOT low-rate (250 m, unsmoothed) passes in 2023. SWOT–model comparisons yield an overall RMSE of 0.11 m and R 2 = 0.61, with typical point differences |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
unknown |
| DOI: |
10.3389/frsen.2026.1751006 |
| DOI: |
10.3389/frsen.2026.1751006/full |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2026.1751006; https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2026.1751006/full |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.7F4F7F07 |
| Database: |
BASE |