Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing to Monitor Water Quality in Drinking Water Reservoirs

At the Blankaart Water Production Center, a reservoir containing 3 million m <semantics> 3 </semantics> of raw surface water acts as a first biologic treatment step before further processing to drinking water. Over the past decade, severe algal blooms have occurred in the reservoir, hampering the water production. Therefore, strategies (e.g., the injection of algaecide) have been looked at to prevent these from happening or try to control them. In this context, the HYperspectral Pointable System for Terrestrial and Aquatic Radiometry (HYPSTAR), installed since early 2021, helps in... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Clémence Goyens
Héloïse Lavigne
Antoine Dille
Han Vervaeren
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 5607, p 5607 (2022)
Verlag/Hrsg.: MDPI AG
Schlagwörter: earth observation / water quality / hyperspectral remote sensing / Belgium / Chlorophyll- a / suspended matter / Science / Q
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26974761
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215607

At the Blankaart Water Production Center, a reservoir containing 3 million m <semantics> 3 </semantics> of raw surface water acts as a first biologic treatment step before further processing to drinking water. Over the past decade, severe algal blooms have occurred in the reservoir, hampering the water production. Therefore, strategies (e.g., the injection of algaecide) have been looked at to prevent these from happening or try to control them. In this context, the HYperspectral Pointable System for Terrestrial and Aquatic Radiometry (HYPSTAR), installed since early 2021, helps in monitoring the effectiveness of these strategies. Indeed, the HYPSTAR provides, at a very high temporal resolution, bio-optical parameters related to the water quality, i.e., Chlorophyll- a ( <semantics> C h l a </semantics> ) concentrations and suspended particulate matter ( <semantics> S P M </semantics> ). The present paper shows how the raw in situ hyperspectral data (a total of 8116 spectra recorded between 2021-02-03 and 2022-08-03, of which 2988 spectra passed the quality check) are processed to find the water-leaving reflectance and how <semantics> S P M </semantics> and <semantics> C h l a </semantics> are derived from it. Based on a limited number of validation data, we also discuss the potential of retrieving phycocyanin (an accessory pigment unique to freshwater cyanobacteria). The results show the benefits of the high temporal resolution of the HYPSTAR to provide near real-time water quality indicators. The study confirms that, in conjunction with a few water sampling data used for validation, the HYPSTAR can be used as a quick and cost-effective method to detect and monitor phytoplankton blooms.