The generation of reliable information for improving the understanding of hydroelectric reservoir dynamics is fundamental for guiding decision-makers to implement best management practices. In this way, we assessed the performance of different interpolation algorithms to map the bathymetry of the Tucuruí hydroelectric reservoir, located in the Brazilian Amazon, as an aid to manage and operate Amazonian reservoirs. We evaluated three different deterministic and one geostatistical algorithms. The performance of the algorithms was assessed through cross-validation and Monte Carlo Simulation. Finally, operational information was derived from the bathymetric grid with the best performance. The results showed that all interpolation methods were able to map important bathymetric features. The best performance was obtained with the geostatistical method (RMSE = 0.92 m). The information derived from the bathymetric map (e.g., the level-area and level-volume diagram and the three-dimensional grid) will allow for optimization of operational monitoring of the Tucuruí hydroelectric reservoir as well as the development of three-dimensional modeling studies.

The very large extent of the Brazilian coast (~8000 km) and the growing maritime vessel traffic demand that research be made on ancillary methods to monitor and control ship's traffic in national waters. An important tool for this purpose is the use of orbital synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, particularly due to its ability to work day and night and to suffer almost no interference of cloud coverage. In this letter, we investigate some ship detection concepts, as applied to TerraSAR-X (TSX) ScanSAR images (16-m resolution), in VV and HH polarization. Ocean clutter statistical parameters are estimated, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is used to verify the goodness of fit for the K-distribution to TSX images. A constant false alarm rate (CFAR) target detection algorithm is developed, and its performance is verified. Incidence angle, CFAR's window size, and probability of false alarm influence are further analyzed.