The Estimation of Water Quality Parameters in Lentic Environments through Remote Sensing Technologies: a Review of the Past Two Decades

Abstract

The use of remote sensing technology applied to measure the quality of continental waters has grown exponentially since the turn of the century. Using different sensors on board satellites or airborne platforms, the estimation of water quality parameters has been carried out through both empirical and analytical approaches. This work aims to review the specific scientific production of the last two decades to assess how the evolution of the sensors and platforms have affected the potential and the limitations of remote sensing technologies to estimate water quality parameters in lakes and reservoirs. The study also focuses on the accuracy of remote sensing techniques for the major optically active parameters: chlorophyll-a and phycocyanin, Secchi disk depth and turbidity. The article is subdivided by sections dedicated to each of these parameters. A review of remote sensing platforms and sensors precedes the parameters sections. The past 20 years have brought a large body of articles on how remote sensing data can be used to estimate these parameters. Empirical methods dominate overwhelmingly with a four to one proportion over analytical approaches. Environmental factors such as season, complexity of water and concentration loads appear to exert a strong control over the quality of the results. Recent platforms and sensors have brought noticeable improvements over results achieved in this period.