iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry (Jul 2009)
Assessing water quality by remote sensing in small lakes: the case study of Monticchio lakes in southern Italy
Abstract
In order to investigate bio-physical parameters associated with water quality, a model based on calibrated and atmospherically corrected Remotely Sensed data has been implemented. Secchi Disk depth and chlorophyll concentration parameters were estimated in a system of very small lakes at Monticchio (Italy) using Landsat TM data. The model was developed through the use of stepwise multiple regression and gave high coefficients of determination (R2 = 0.82 for Secchi Disk and R2 = 0.72 for chlorophyll). Values for water transparency were strongly correlated with chlorophyll a concentration: a linear relationship between the two parameters showed a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.93). The case study shows that the application of this approach on lakes with a small surface area, such as the Monticchio lakes in Southern Italy, is effective and the developed model well describes the water quality parameters.
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