Capturing coastal water clarity variability with Landsat 8

Kelly M A Luis; Jennie E Rheuban; Maria T Kavanaugh; David M Glover; Jianwei Wei; Zhongping Lee; Scott C Doney

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.078

Capturing coastal water clarity variability with Landsat 8

Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Aug:145:96-104. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.078. Epub 2019 May 23.

Authors

Kelly M A Luis¹, Jennie E Rheuban², Maria T Kavanaugh³, David M Glover², Jianwei Wei⁴, Zhongping Lee⁴, Scott C Doney⁵

Affiliations

¹ School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: kelly.luis001@umb.edu.
² Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
³ College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA.
⁴ School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.

PMID: 31590839
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.078

Abstract

Coastal water clarity varies at high temporal and spatial scales due to weather, climate, and human activity along coastlines. Systematic observations are crucial to assessing the impact of water clarity change on aquatic habitats. In this study, Secchi disk depths (Z_SD) from Boston Harbor, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and Narragansett Bay water quality monitoring organizations were compiled to validate Z_SD derived from Landsat 8 (L8) imagery, and to generate high spatial resolution Z_SD maps. From 58 L8 images, acceptable agreement was found between in situ and L8 Z_SD in Buzzards Bay (N = 42, RMSE = 0.96 m, MAPD = 28%), Cape Cod Bay (N = 11, RMSE = 0.62 m, MAPD = 10%), and Narragansett Bay (N = 8, RMSE = 0.59 m, MAPD = 26%). This work demonstrates the value of merging in situ Z_SD with high spatial resolution remote sensing estimates for improved coastal water quality monitoring.

Keywords: Landsat; Remote sensing; Secchi disk depth; Water quality.

MeSH terms

Boston
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Satellite Imagery*
Seawater / analysis*
Water Pollution / analysis*
Water Quality*