Spatially Intensive Patterns of Water Clarity in Reservoirs Determined Rapidly With Sensor‐Equipped Boats and Satellites

Abstract

AbstractOptical water quality affects the quantity and spectral composition of underwater light available to photoautotrophs along with light reflected off the water surface. In reservoirs, prominent gradients for optical water quality and clarity measures occur between inlets and outlets, allowing rapid surveys of ecosystem structure across diverse conditions along with tests of relationships between in situ and remotely sensed water indices. We used a sensor‐equipped boat in a clay‐rich subtropical drinking water reservoir to examine continuous spatial patterns of water clarity and the relationship between in‐lake turbidity and normalized difference turbidity index (ndti) from Sentinel 2 imagery acquired on the same date. Over the 62.3 km boat path, surface turbidity varied between 14 and 85 NTU (mean = 30), with highest values in shallower water near the main inlet. Results indicated a strong linear relationship between sensor turbidity and lab‐determined turbidity. A positive relationship between the satellite turbidity index and in‐lake turbidity, combined with a negative exponential relationship between Secchi depth and turbidity, provided a basis for predicting water clarity metrics continuously over the entire lake surface. In this turbid water body, predicted Secchi depth and turbidity over the whole lake had means of 0.22 m and 54 NTU, with 75% of the lake area <0.29 m and >26 NTU. Pursuit of general relationships involving optical properties of water from high‐speed, data‐intensive spatial surveys and remotely sensed surface reflectance facilitates further development of spatially explicit models of aquatic systems.