Inland Reservoir Water Quality Inversion and Eutrophication Evaluation Using BP Neural Network and Remote Sensing Imagery: A Case Study of Dashahe Reservoir

Abstract

In this study, an inland reservoir water quality parameters’ inversion model was developed using a back propagation (BP) neural network to conduct reservoir eutrophication evaluation, according to multi-temporal remote sensing images and field observations. The inversion model based on the BP neural network (the BP inversion model) was applied to a large inland reservoir in Jiangmen city, South China, according to the field observations of five water quality parameters, namely, Chlorophyl-a (Chl-a), Secchi Depth (SD), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and Permanganate of Chemical Oxygen Demand (CODMn), and twelve periods of Landsat8 satellite remote sensing images. The reservoir eutrophication was evaluated. The accuracy of the BP inversion model for each water parameter was compared with that of the linear inversion model, and the BP inversion models of two parameters (i.e., Chl-a and CODMn) with larger fluctuation range were superior to the two multiple linear inversion models due to the ability of improving the generalization of the BP neural network. The Dashahe Reservoir was basically in the state of mesotrophication and light eutrophication. The area of light eutrophication accounted for larger proportions in spring and autumn, and the reservoir inflow was the main source of nutrient salts.

Keywords

• eutrophication
• multi-temporal remote sensing image
• back-propagation
• Dashahe reservoir
• water quality parameter inversion