JAPRS & SIS, Vol.34, Part 7, “Resource and Environmental Monitoring”, Hyderabad, India, 2002 
  
  
APPLICATION OF REMOTELY SENSED DATA FOR DETECTION 
OF SEEPAGE IN DIKES 
M. Givehchi ?, J.K. Vrijling * 
A.Hartmann > P.H.A.J.M. van Gelder ? and S. van Baars * 
* Delft University of Technology, Chair on Hydraulic Engineering and Prob. Methods, Faculty of Civil Engineering and 
Geosciencee, the Netherlands - (m.Givehchi, J.K.Vrijling, P.H.AJ.M.Vangelder, S. Vanbaars )@ct.tudelft.nl 
e Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, the Netherlands - r.a.hartmann Q mdi.rws.minvenw.nl 
KETWORDS: Remote Sensing, Application, Detection, Thermal infrared, Dike, Seepage 
ABSTRACT: 
The remote sensing techniques are used increasingly in several sciences, e.g. meteorology, oceanography, environment and 
especially in detection and assessment of the effects that can help us to predict the hazards. Therefore, it seems that this method can 
be an outstanding technique for assessment and detection of failure mechanisms in dikes, but only for failure mechanisms that have 
external effects such as seepage. Dikes have an important role in protecting the Dutch people against the problems that water make 
for them. These problems are more important in the Netherlands than other countries because the ground elevation of about half of 
the country is lower than the sea elevation. In this paper the dike and especially the seepage phenomenon will be reviewed first and, 
continued by illustrating the characteristics of thermal infrared (TIR) and its image system. Finally, using TIR images for detection 
of seepage in dikes that exist from the location Nieuwaal, Bommelerwaard (in the Netherlands) are also illustrated. It will be shown 
that combination of normal colour images with TIR images is a better way to detect the seepage area. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Living in the Netherlands means living in a country that in 
about 50 percent of it, the sea level is above the land. And also 
when there is a heavy rainfall (in Germany, Belgium and in The 
Netherlands) combined with snow melting in the mountains of 
Austria (Alps) or Belgium (Ardennes) the rivers show a large 
discharge and very high water levels. So not only the sea is a 
threat to the Dutch people, but also river discharges can cause 
' problems. Thus, the threats for the Netherlands’ water system 
can be: sea, river and rain (Pluym , Keij , 2000). 
Obviously the Dutch people want to protect themselves from 
these hazards, so dikes and dunes have been built through the 
centuries. Without dunes and dikes about half of the country 
would be submerged. In this way, the dikes play an important 
role in the safety of the Dutch people. Therefore it is extremely 
important that changes in the condition of dikes are measured 
and a suitable reaction is chosen. Hence a more efficient 
method than visual inspection or photographs was sought and it 
was found that Remote Sensing could be effective. And it is 
anticipated that by using remote sensing all failure mechanism 
in dikes that have external effects can be evaluated. The 
changes in the conditions of dikes (such as moisture) that can 
cause failure in dikes are also measured. 
The outline of this paper is as follows. First, the dikes, the 
failure mechanisms of dikes and the proxies of the failure 
mechanisms that are important for monitoring will be described 
(section 2). Then in section 3, remote sensing and essentially 
thermal infrared (TIR) will be explained. Finally, using TIR 
images for detection of seepage in dikes that exist from the 
location Nieuwaal, Bommelerwaard will be also illustrated 
(section 4). 
* 2. DIKE 
A dike is a hydraulic structure for which ground (sand and clay) 
is the main material. It is used for protection against floods or 
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in another words it protects the area against attacks of water 
and flood. 
Several kinds of soil are used in making dikes and different 
materials are used for dike's protection. The choice depends on 
different parameters such as the type of ground below the dike, 
the materials available, the pressure the dike must withstand, 
the traditions, customs of the area and etc. 
In the Dutch mostly use clay and sand for making a dike and 
they protected with an impermeable layer. This impermeable 
layer is usually clay but some times supplemented by asphalt. 
This layer must resist against scouring. In addition a grass 
cover with a healthy layer of turf is also used. It is known the 
cheaper and best protection for dikes especially when the outer 
slope of dike is far away from waves and tides. But outer 
slopes of dikes, which are subject to heavier attack of waves, 
are usually protected with a revetment of stones or concrete 
blocks. 
In order to monitor the dikes with remote sensing, it is 
important to know the potentials failure mechanisms. For a 
typical dike cross-section various potentials failure mechanisms 
can be distinguished, which are: 
1 - Overflowing 
2 - Wave overtopping 
3 - Sliding inner slope 
4 - Sliding outer slope 
5 - Piping 
6 - Seepage 
7 - Settlement 
8 - Erosion inner slope 
9 - Erosion outer slope 
10 - Erosion foreland 
11 - Liquefaction 
12 - Animals