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Sustainable Water Management & Satellite Remote Sensing
Citation:
Schaeffer, B. Sustainable Water Management & Satellite Remote Sensing. Presented at Ocean Options Conference XXI, October 08 - 12, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
Overview of national assessment frameworks and the connection to satellite remote sensing to monitor water quality. This proceeding also begins to discuss limitations of satellite remote sensing for management/stakeholder use.
Description:
Eutrophication assessment frameworks such as the Australian National Water Quality Management Strategy, Oslo Paris (OSPAR) Commission Common Procedure, Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union, Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) from the European Commission, French Research Institute for Exploration of the Sea (IFREMER) method, Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) Eutrophication Assessment Tool (HEAT), and in the United States the National Coastal Assessment and National Aquatic Resource Assessment use various approaches for assessing water quality and status of coastal and inland waters (Dekker and Hestir 2012; Devlin et al. 2011; Ferreira et al. 2011; Park et al. 2010). These assessment frameworks are typically based on defining a baseline, and then assessing current conditions to assign a level of eutrophication or overall ecological status to coastal waters. In addition, all water bodies in the United States are protected by the Clean Water Act (CWA, 1988). The objective of the CWA is to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." This federal mandate authorizes states, tribes, and U.S. territories, with guidance and oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to develop and implement water quality standards to protect the resources of the Nation’s waters. Water quality standards include designated uses, defined as the services that a water body provides such as drinking water, aquatic life, harvestable species, and recreation. These standards under the CWA are applicable within State waters, defined as <3 nautical miles from shore. Therefore, a majority of water quality management decisions address near-shore coastal waters, estuaries, lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams where applicable water quality regulation could be implemented, but the highly reflective surface of land compared to that of water causes error flagging of remotely sensed water quality