General

Satellite remote sensing provides an important integrative tool in addition to traditional methods of spatial and temporal analysis of water quality parameters. Several scientific works illustrate how energy which is backscattered by a water basin in the various wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum (mainly in the visible near infrared range, i.e. between 380 and 900 nm) carries with it information on the concentrations of the optically active parameters responsible for water colour, i.e. phytoplankton, suspended sediments, and dissolved organic substances. In order to explain the functions linking the radiance measured by satellite sensor systems and the concentration of water quality parameters, it is possible to use either procedures based on statistic analysis or physically-based approaches. In the case of the former, by looking for the best correlation between satellite observations and the values of parameters (e.g. Secchi Disk depth) measured by the satellite overflight; in the latter case, by solving the equations of radiative transport, which physically link the concentration of the parameters to the radiance emerging from the water column and, propagated through the atmosphere, measured by the sensing system. The choice whether to apply a statistic or a physical approach (and other strategies in between) depends on different factors (e.g. the availability of information on the values of optical properties concerning the studied basin, the sensor’s spectral/radiometric resolution etc.). However, in both cases, the result is the production of a map of the studied quality parameters (from the concentration of chlorophyll-a to the depths of the Secchi Disk).

CSIRO Environmental satellite

http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=mediaRelease&id=Prhyperion

Protocols

Enquiries to
CSIRO
Land and Water
http://www.clw.csiro.au/research/landscapes/remote/

Costs

Data supplier
Australian Government
Geoscience Australia
http://www.ga.gov.au/acres/

Satellite data price lists
http://www.ga.gov.au/acres/prod_ser/prices.htm

Free data
http://www.ga.gov.au/download/nmd_download/

Case study

Gippsland Lakes
http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse/News%20and%20Events%2FNews%2FMedia%20Releases;ID=hixi8tno81n6;STATUS=A

Integrated Airborne Sensing
CSIRO
http://www.cossa.csiro.au/pubrep/archive/dis1a.htm

Australian Institute of Marine Science
Sea surface temperature
http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/facilities/remote-sensing/rs-sst.html

People contacts

Dr Michael Waters,
RMIT East Gippsland Water Quality Research / Lecturer, Natural Resources Engineering, School of Civil and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University (03) 9925 3319, michael.waters@rmit.edu.au;
Organisation contacts
Dr Arnold Dekker,
CSIRO Land and Water / Team Leader, Environmental Remote Sensing research team, CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra (02) 6246 5821, Arnold.Dekker@csiro.au;
Advanced Reference

Various Projects
http://www.gpa.uq.edu.au/brg/projects/coastal.htm

Australian Antarctic Division
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/default.asp?casid=4301