Assessment of spatio-temporal variability of lake water color from satellite data

This paper presents a method of satellite remote sensing data analysis for comparative evaluation of inland waters optical quality, which would not necessarily require any in situ measurements. Remote sensing parameters were extracted by digital analysis of two Landsat Thematic Mapper images corresponding to different seasonal situations. The experiment was carried out on the Lake Garda (Italy), where distinct sub-basins can be individuated either for morphological stand-point or for their different water conditions. Subsurface irradiance reflectance values and chromaticity coordinates were derived from radiometric transects covering the different waters from the lake margin to the pelagic environment, and used to assess both spatial pattern and seasonal dynamics of the lake water quality.