Land use change detection with LANDSAT-2 data for monitoring and predicting regional water quality degradation

The author has identified the following significant results. Comparison between LANDSAT 1 and 2 imagery of Arkansas provided evidence of significant land use changes during the 1972-75 time period. Analysis of Arkansas historical water quality information has shown conclusively that whereas point source pollution generally can be detected by use of water quality data collected by state and federal agencies, sampling methodologies for nonpoint source contamination attributable to surface runoff are totally inadequate. The expensive undertaking of monitoring all nonpoint sources for numerous watersheds can be lessened by implementing LANDSAT change detection analyses

Terrestrial and Marine Geobiophysical Spatial Analysis and Modeling of Phytoplankton and Nutrients in Haifa Bay, Israel

Haifa Bay, Israel, is considered one of the most polluted environments in the nation. The bay water is enriched with nutrients and shows elevated levels of phytoplankton biomass. This requires continuous data collection to monitor productivity. The objectives of these remote sensing geobiophysical models were to (1) create a terrestrial model component to identify sources for the elevated levels of nutrients in the bay, and (2) marine model component to validate remote sensing algorithms for the detection of Chlorophyll in an oceanic setting. Methods included Spatial Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Unsupervised Classification, Map Algebra, Band Ratios, and Statistical Regression of reflection values against chlorophyll In Situ concentration measurements. The examination of the relationship between in situ measured chlorophyll concentrations and reflectance values included several models: linear, polynomial, exponential, and power transformations Results of the terrestrial model component validated the assumption that diffuse introduction of nutrient is mainly attributed to urban, industrial, and agricultural regions and intensive anthropogenic activity around the bay. The aquatic model component tested ocean color algorithms using ETM+ and MERIS data, which achieved results. ETM+ algorithm (TM2-TM3)/TM1 resulted in high correlation coefficient (R2=0.8255) and was found suitable for the detection of low chlorophyll concentration \u3c3mg/m3. MERIS reflectance ratio R510/R560 was found most accurate and achieved high correlation between measured and reflected values (R2=0.8428). The terrestrial and the marine components of the geobiophysical models provide an alternative, effective approach to the common monitoring techniques

Decision Support for Watershed Management Using Evolutionary Algorithms

An integrative computational methodology is developed for the management of nonpoint source pollution from watersheds. The associated decision support system is based on an interface between evolutionary algorithms (EAs) and a comprehensive watershed simulation model, and is capable of identifying optimal or near-optimal land use patterns to satisfy objectives. Specifically, a genetic algorithm (GA) is linked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for single objective evaluations, and a Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm has been integrated with SWAT for multiobjective optimization. The model can be operated at a small spatial scale, such as a farm field, or on a larger watershed scale. A secondary model that also uses a GA is developed for calibration of the simulation model. Sensitivity analysis and parameterization are carried out in a preliminary step to identify model parameters that need to be calibrated. Application to a demonstration watershed located in Southern Illinois reveals the capability of the model in achieving its intended goals. However, the model is found to be computationally demanding as a direct consequence of repeated SWAT simulations during the search for favorable solutions. An artificial neural network (ANN) has been developed to mimic SWAT outputs and ultimately replace it during the search process. Replacement of SWAT by the ANN results in an 84% reduction in computational time required to identify final land use patterns. The ANN model is trained using a hybrid of evolutionary programming (EP) and the back propagation (BP) algorithms. The hybrid algorithm was found to be more effective and efficient than either EP or BP alone. Overall, this study demonstrates the powerful and multifaceted role that EAs and artificial intelligence techniques could play in solving the complex and realistic problems of environmental and water resources systems

Herbicide and tracer movement in soil

Field movement of several herbicides, rhodamine WT, chloride, and bromide was measured by sampling field drainage tiles 1.2 m deep. Under natural rainfall conditions, alachlor (2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide) and metribuzin (4-amino-6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-3-(methylthio)-1,2,4-triazin-5(4H)-one) were detected in tile effluent samples 12 to 18 hours after a 30.7 mm rainstorm. Rainfall occurring 1 to 2 days after chemical application was primarily responsible for the elevated concentrations found. In a second experiment, a rainfall simulator was used to apply 50 to 80 mm of water to 8 plots, 24 hours after chemical application. Field drainage tiles were intensively sampled for 8 hours following the simulated rainstorm. Although tile flow rate and backfill material significantly affected solute breakthrough curves, alachlor, cyanazine (2- ( (4-chloro-6-(ethylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) amino) -2-methylpropanenitrile), rhodamine WT, chloride, and bromide were detected in tile effluent. The rapid breakthrough of both adsorbed and non-adsorbed solutes indicated that preferential flow is an important mechanism for the movement of surface-applied chemicals in a structured soil. Solute concentrations peaked within 130 minutes after the start of a simulated rainfall, but then decreased rapidly as matrix flow increased;Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effect of a large, continuous macropore on chloride and herbicide movement. Packed soil columns were modified by removing a 6 mm diameter core from the center. The importance of a single macropore for water and solute movement was governed largely by the hydraulic conductivity of the surrounding soil matrix. Although higher initial breakthrough concentrations of chloride was measured in columns with a continuous macropore, total chloride recovered was less. In contrast, herbicides were only detected in drainage from soil columns containing a continuous macropore. In soil columns without a continuous macropore, no herbicides were found above the 0.4 ppb detection limit

Drinking Water Protection and Agricultural Exceptionalism

Providing safe drinking water is a basic responsibility of government. In the United States, local water utilities shoulder much of this burden, but federal drinking water law sets these utilities up to fail. The primary problem arises in the context of nonpoint source pollution, where federal drinking water law favors end-of-line clean up by water utilities over pollution prevention by farmers and other nonpoint source polluters. This system is both inefficient and unfair. Although the Safe Drinking Water Act requires local utilities to provide safe water, it gives them few tools to engage in water pollution prevention and instead emphasizes water filtration and treatment. At the same time, the Clean Water Act, which regulates water pollution, broadly exempts much agricultural water contamination and other nonpoint source pollution from its strict permitting requirements. As a result of the interaction of these two statutes, water utilities are often the first line of defense against agricultural water contamination\u27s many human health harms. Allocating cleanup responsibility to water utilities rather than to polluters is inefficient because it prioritizes end-of-line clean up even where pollution prevention would be less expensive. It also fails to account for the ancillary benefits of pollution prevention, including, among other things, protection of aquatic habitats. This allocation of responsibility is inequitable not only because it has a disparate impact on low-income and minority communities, but also because it disadvantages communities whose drinking water sources are adjacent to farms relative to those whose drinking water sources are adjacent to polluters that are subject to the Clean Water Act\u27s permitting requirements. For the former set of communities, legal mechanisms to shift either costs or cleanup responsibility to farmers are extremely limited. To address these concerns, this Article calls for a suite of legal reforms that would shift the default from end of line cleanup to pollution prevention by empowering water utilities to adequately protect their source waters and by revoking the special status of farms in environmental law

Development of watershed-based modeling approach to pollution source identification

Identification of unknown pollution sources is essential to environmental protection and emergency response. A review of recent publications in source identification revealed that there are very limited numbers of research in modeling methods for rivers. What’s more, the majority of these attempts were to find the source strength and release time, while only a few of them discussed how to identify source locations. Comparisons of these works indicated that a combination of biological, mathematical and geographical method could effectively identify unknown source area(s), which was a more practical trial in a watershed. This thesis presents a watershed-based modeling approach to identification of critical source area. The new approach involves (1) identification of pollution source in rivers using a moment-based method and (2) identification of critical source area in a watershed using a hydrograph-based method and high-resolution radar rainfall data. In terms of the moment-based method, the first two moment equations are derived through the Laplace transform of the Variable Residence Time (VART) model. The first moment is used to determine the source location, while the second moment can be employed to estimate the total mass of released pollutant. The two moment equations are tested using conservative tracer injection data collected from 23 reaches of five rivers in Louisiana, USA, ranging from about 3km to 300 km. Results showed that the first moment equation is able to predict the pollution source location with a percent error of less than 18% in general. The predicted total mass has a larger percent error, but a correction could be added to reduce the error significantly. Additionally, the moment-based method can be applied to identify the source location of reactive pollutants, provided that the special and temporal concentrations are recorded in downstream stations. In terms of the hydrograph-based method, observed hydrographs corresponding to pollution events can be utilized to identify the critical source area in a watershed. The time of concentration could provide a unique fingerprint for each subbasin in the watershed. The observation of abnormally high bacterial levels along with high resolution radar rainfall data can be used to match the most possible storm events and thus the critical source area

Keuka Lake Looking Ahead

Keuka Lake Looking Ahead-1996 was developed as part of the Keuka Lake Watershed Project; a project funded by the Keuka Lake Association since 1991. This document was prepared by the Watershed Project Committee utilizing the Watershed Planning Handbook for the Control of Nonpoint Source Pollution, a guide to assist communities in developing comprehensive plans for managing nonpoint sources of pollution within a watershed area and the State of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed-1994. The purpose of this report is to provide information to citizens, businesses, elected officials, and community planners for implementing actions to protect the integrity of the watershed. The information can be used to make decisions regarding land and water resources and the hows and whys of land and water use protection and regulation. Finding solutions to nonpoint source pollution problems is not a simple task. There are, nevertheless, certain logical steps leading to the preparation of a nonpoint source water pollution control plan that contains specific solutions or strategies for addressing problems. Keuka Lake Looking Ahead is intended to be a guide, not a prescription, for understanding and protecting water quality. The KLA has identified additional nonpoint source areas that require further investigation and analysis . For example, the need for a more comprehensive stream monitoring program was identified by this project. Keuka Lake Looking Ahead contains an enormous amount of detailed information and analysis that needs to be released and discussed by a broad range of watershed users or stakeholders. This document presents the required information to develop a watershed implementation plan to remediate existing nonpoint source problems and/or prevent new problems from occurring. The release of this document is an enormous step forward in providing the necessary documentation and rationale for a formal watershed management plan. For the first time, a comprehensive watershed report has been prepared for Keuka Lake that inventories and evaluates sources of pollution and their impact on the lake. While the need for additional assessment has been identified, Keuka Lake Looking Ahead provides sound rationale for the implementation of nonpoint source pollution prevention techniques, such as stormwater management and soil erosion and sedimentation control. Effective watershed management requires a concerted, cooperative effort by the entire community - homeowners, business, farmers, developers, foresters, environmentalists, and local officials. All members of the watershed community share in the benefits of a high quality water resource which is critical to a community \u27s health, aesthetic appeal and economic wellbeing. Together, the watershed community can protect the watershed integrity for present and future generations

Application of Remote Sensing to the Chesapeake Bay Region. Volume 2: Proceedings

A conference was held on the application of remote sensing to the Chesapeake Bay region. Copies of the papers, resource contributions, panel discussions, and reports of the working groups are presented