Monitoring and simulating the distribution of phytoplankton in constructed wetlands based on SPOT 6 images

Abstract

We integrated hyperspectral and field-measured chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) data from the Kristalbad constructed wetland in the Netherlands. We developed a best-fit band ratio empirical algorithm to generate a distribution map of Chl-a concentration (C chla) from SPOT 6 imagery. The C chla retrieved from remote sensing was compared with a water quality model established for a wetland pond system. The retrieved satellite results were combined with a water quality model to simulate and predict the changes in phytoplankton levels. The regression model provides good retrievals for Chl-a. The imagery-derived C chla performed well in calibrating the simulation results. For each pond, the modeled C chla showed a range of values similar to the Chl-a data derived from SPOT 6 imagery (10–25 mg m−3). The imagery-derived and prediction model results could be used as the guiding analytical tools to provide information covering an entire study area and to inform policies.

Keywords

• constructed wetland
• ecohydraulic modeling
• phytoplankton
• chlorophyll-a
• spot 6