Surface water quality assessment using hyperspectral imagery

Hyperspectral imagining has been recently been used to obtain several water quality parameters in water bodies either inland or in oceans. Optical and thermal have proven that spatial and temporal information needed to track and understand trend changes for these water quality parameters will result in developing better management practices for improving water quality of water bodies. This paper will review water quality parameters Chlorophyll (Chl), Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) obtained for the Sakonnet River in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island using the AVIRIS Sensor. The AVIRIS Sensor should improve the assessment and the definition of locations and pollutant concentrations of point and non-point sources. It will provide for necessary monitoring data to follow the clean up efforts and locate the necessary water and wastewater infrastructure to eliminate these point and non-point sources. This hyperspectral application would enhance the evaluation by both point and non-point sources, improve upon and partially replace expenses, labor intensive field sampling, and allow for economical sampling and mapping of large geographical areas.