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INDICATOR OF EUTROPHICATION AND SEDIMENT LOAD: HYPERSPECTRAL TECHNIQUE FOR CONTINUOUS COVERAGE OF DEEP RIVERS
Citation:
Cormier, S M., F A. Fulk, AND G. Senay. INDICATOR OF EUTROPHICATION AND SEDIMENT LOAD: HYPERSPECTRAL TECHNIQUE FOR CONTINUOUS COVERAGE OF DEEP RIVERS. Presented at National Science Meeting, Toronto, Canada, January 18-20, 2000.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this research project is to provide methods, tools and guidance to Regions, States and Tribes to support the TMDL program. This research will investigate new measurement methods and models to link stressors to biological responses and will use existing data and knowledge to develop strategies to determine the causes of biological impairment in rivers and streams. Research will be performed across multiple spatial scales, site, subwatershed, watershed, basin, ecoregion and regional/state.
Description:
Remote sensing techniques were used to characterize and quantify spatial and temporal variation in water quality of the Great Miami River in Ohio. An initial feasibility study was conducted in the summer of 1999 using a non-imaging hand-held spectroradiometer to ascertain the presence of remotely detectable relationships between water quality parameters and spectral reflectance data. Ratios of narrow spectral bands in the red and infrared were significantly correlated with chlorophyll, turbidity and secchi-diskdepth readings. Spectral bands selected during the feasiblity study were later used to program the imaging sensors. Two sensors were flown aboard a small aircraft to acquire imagery in the Great Miami River basin. On September 8 and 9, 1999, a CASI (Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager) sensor acquired imagery in 19 different spectral bands at a spatial resolution of 2 m, and on September 30, 1999, a HyMap sensor was flown with 126 spectral bands at a spatial resolution of 5 m. A total of about 80km of the river was imaged during the first mission while a 20 km reach was covered on the second flyover to repeat coverage of the urban/industrial influences around the city of Dayton, Ohio. Instream measurements were acquired within the same day of the overflights. Water quality data such as turbidity, chlorophyll, nutrient concentrations (nitrogen and phosphorous) were measured to calibrate the image. Currently, spectral processing of the imagery is underway to differentiate, quantify and map the distribution of algal chlorophyll, sediment loads and aquatic vegetation.