Leak Detection from the Buried Water Transmission Pipeline Using Landsat 8 Satellite Images (Case Study of the Kosar Water Transmission Pipeline)

There are various kinds of methods and techniques for water leakage detection from buried aqueducts. Most of them are costly and time consuming while Water companies need to identify leakage quicker than conventional approaches with lower cost and also cover larger areas. In the present study, the possibility of locating water leakages was evaluated in the study area using satellite remotely sensed data. To detect pipeline leakage, the Landsat 8 satellite image processing such as producing a normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) map and an NDVI-based classification were used. In addition, the analysis of soil moisture enabled known leaks to be highlighted and differentiated from their immediate surroundings. The outcomes emphasize the contribution of remote sensing techniques to the early detection of leakages by such free medium spatial resolution satellite images. These techniques are easy to be implemented for wide coverage area, especially in the studied area.

Keywords:

water pipeline leakage , remote sensing , NDVI , soil moisture , Landsat 8