Assessment of Cyanobacterial Chlorophyll A as an Indicator of Water Quality in Two Wetlands Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-2 Images

Abstract

Cyanobacteria can have a dramatic effect on the quality of water used for human activities, as reported by the World Health Organization. Remote sensing is an appropriate tool for continuous monitoring of the entire water body, given the current state of the lake. In the present study, surface water quality was evaluated using multi-temporal sentinel-2 images based on cyanobacteria’s concentration of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and the water’s dissolved oxygen content. Chl-a was used as an indicator of cyanobacterial blooms, and dissolved oxygen was used as an indicator of water quality. Dissolved oxygen was generated using Sentinel 2 dataset. For the present study, two wetlands, Wadhwana and Timbi, in Vadodara City, Gujarat, India, were assessed from 2018 to 2022. Analysis showed that dissolved oxygen is an important environmental factor that influences cyanobacteria abundance. It was seen that the increased concentration of chlorophyll a was associated with a reduction in dissolved oxygen and hence deteriorated the water quality.

Keywords

• water quality
• Ramsar
• wetland
• Sentinel-2
• chlorophyll a
• temp