Use of MODIS satellite images to investigate the chlorophyll-a concentrations in Lake Okeechobee, Florida

摘要

Lake Okeechobee, Florida is the largest freshwater lake in the southeastern U.S. It is a key component in the hydrologic system of south Florida providing water supply for agriculture, the environment, and urban areas Excessive phosphorus loads, from the Okeechobee watershed over the last few decades have led to increased eutrophication of this. Much of the excess phosphorus has been sequestered into the sediments. Sediment water interactions, including diffusive fluxes and sediment resuspension are a source of available phosphorus for phytoplankton. As a consequence, nutrient-enriched lake water have led to phytoplankton blooms. These blooms are quantified by measurement of chlorophyll-a concentrations. While the in-situ water quality monitoring is time-consuming and costly, multispectral remote sensing sensors onboard satellites can detect chlorophyll-a contained in most phytoplankton efficiently. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the use of MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance 8-Day images to estimate the chlorophyll-a concentrations in the Lake Okeechobee. Using the integrated genetic programming and multiple linear regression models helps the information retrieval for spatial mapping of chlorophyll-a concentrations.