Studies in the Lake Ontario Basin are designed to provide input for models of river basin discharge and macro-scale features of lake circulation. Lake studies appear to require high altitude imagery to record the dynamic features of Lake Ontario so that ERTS-1 data may be interpreted. Land area studies require input of soil moisture, land use and soil-sediment-geomorphology measurements some of which appear to be available, on a regional scale from ERTS-1 products

Bukata, R. P.

Collins, S. H.

Dickinson, W. T.

Falconer, A.

Harris, G. P.

Howarth, P. J.

Protz, R.

Thomson, K. P. B.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

Paper W 14 
STUD!ES IN THE LAKE ONTARIO BASIN USING ERTS-1 AND HIGH 
ALTITUDE DATA 
A. Falconer, S. H. Collins, W. T. Dickison and R. Protz, University of Guelph, 
Guelph, Ontario; R .  P. Bukata and K. P. B. Thomson Canada Centre for 
Inland Waters, P. 0 .  &ox 5050, Burlington, Ontario; G. P.  Harris and P. J. 
Howart h, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario 
ABSTRACT 
Studies i n  the Lake Ontario Basin a r e  designed to  provide input 
for models of r iver  basin discharge and macro-scale features of lake 
circulation. Lake Studies appear t o  require high a l t i t ude  imagery to  
record the dpamic features of Lake Ontario so that  ERTS-1 data may be 
interpreted. Land area studies require input of s o i l  moisture, land use 
and soil-sediment-gemorph31ogy measurements some of which appear to  be 
available, on a regional scale  from WTS-1 products. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Lake Ontario is the major study area for  projects undertaken a s  par t  
of the International Field Year on the Great Lakes (I.F.Y.G.L.). The 
Western portion of the Lake Ontario Basin has within it specially de- 
eijpated Iacd and lake stud? areas which a re  manap4 by personnel from 
government agencies and uaiversit ies.  Remote sensing data over the vestern 
portion of Lake Ontar l o  a r e  available from s e ~ e r a l  sources. Correlation 
of the avaiiable remote sensing imegery with ground measurements available 
througl, T.F.Y.G.L. studies is undertaken by a team by a team of s c i en t i s t s  
whose wbrk is co-ordhated through the Centre for  Applied Research and 
Enlj :eering Design (QUtED) McMaster Univereity, Hamilton, Ontario. This 
5 tk  is par t ia l ly  supported by fund8 from U. S .G. S. Contract No. 1.4-08-001-3.3169. 
Remote-sensing data available under t h i s  contract a r e  used by Canadian 
government agencies which have program? i n  the 1.F.Y.G.L and thaee agencies 
a re  associated with the research team co-ordinated by CARED. The i..dividuale 
participating i n  the co-ordinated interdisciplinary research project a r e  
a lso involved i n  many other research a c t i v i t i e r  funded by various agencies. 
The resurte of these other a c t i v i t i a r  are,  where appropriate, linked to  t h i r  
work i u  the evaluation of r m t e  senabg imagery for  I.P.Y.G.L. purposes. 
The western portion of the  Lake Ontario Baria (the b k e  Ontario Test 
s i t e  see f ig .  1) contains both l.nd and lake orear. Studier over the land 
area a r e  designed t o  provide input for models of stream basin respome so that 
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discharge into major streams or into Lake Ontario can be predicted with 
greater accuracy. Over the lake the data ~btained from lake study programs 
areevaluated alongside the remote sensing data and the purpose of the studies 
is to better understand the behaviour of the lake. International agreements 
on the control and management of Lake Ontario can only be based on the 
available knowledge and the continued study of the lake is of importance in 
all aspects so that available knowledge is as complete as possible. Both 
land and lake studies require a base fcr measurement of information. 
Calibration of data from sensors continues as an area of study. Some success 
with calibratiop of high altitude data has been achieved and the relationship 
between this and ERTS-1 data is a continuing investigation. A co-operative 
project between the University of Guelph and University of Michigan in the 
investigation of ERTS data for measurement of terrain characteristics, soils 
and soil moisture is examining this problem using MSS data from ERTS-1 and 
low altitude flights. 
2. WCE STUDIES REPORTED BY CANADA CENTRE FOR INLAND WATERS ( C .C. I .W. 
In evaluating 'the RB-57 high altitude data, CCIW concentrated upon 
its potential for identifying and interpreting details of limnological 
phenomena occurring within inland lake systems. Obvious surficial features 
(many of which were the subjects of study of other investigators) such as 
coastal and river mouth plumes and effluents and which were felt to be 
readily distinguishable from ERTS and/or high altitude aerial imagery were, 
at least temporarily, ignored in favour of less obvious limnological data 
that could benefit from a high altitude overview. As is typical of all 
programs of remote sensing, the RB-57 data were not considered as an 
independent entity, but were considered in conjunction with other data 
collected above or below Lake Ontario during the periods of high altitude 
NASA overflights. These ancillary data included low altitude visible 
photography performed by CCIW, intermediare altitude visible photography 
and thermal scans performed by CCIW along with CCRS, and water quality 
data collected routinely via ship cruiees. 
l im main areas of limnological interest were explored making direct 
use of the RB-57 imagery; internal wave observations ~.hich have been 
previously reported (Boyce and Thomeon. 1972) and dynamical lake proceeses 
which are about to be reported (Bukata, 1973). 
1) Surface Indicationo of IEternal Waves 
The high altitude imagery clearly indicated a number of wave-like 
featcras along the north shore of Lake Ontario (2-11)m wide) which are 
prermed' to be convergence liner arsociatd with internal waveo in the 
lab. Figure 2 illustrates a moraic conotructed from the imagery (9 inch 
color infra-red film, 6 inch law) and indicator the internal wave 
configurations in the area of Lake Ontario between Toronto and 08!9wa. 
The port import information to ba derivd from the imagery waa an ertiute 
of thi-wavelength of the fmture and their east-ueat continuity. 'Rro main 
poupo of waves were evident, the first group rrhibiting wavelengths between 
1000-1700 metre. and the recod group exhibiting mvelmgtha b e m e n  404- 
800 matrar. 
2) A Study of Lake Dynamics 
Ut i l i s ing  those portions of the photography which display so la r  
mirror-reflection (sun-glint) i t  has been shown tha t  high a l t i t u d e  
photography which is capable of depicting large  water surfaces with good 
resolution is a powerful tool  for evaluating re la t ive ly  rapid dynamical 
phenomena. It has been observed tha t  under proper conditions, photo- 
graphy i n  the  v i s i b l e  spec t ra l  bands may del ineate  the dynamic in te r face  
between thermally d i f fe ren t  water masses. Extensive work is  current ly  
being performed upon the  dynamics of upwelling phenomena and encouraging 
agreement is being obtained between the calcula t ions  of water transport  
r a t e s  a s  determined from s u r f i c i a l  overviews of the  lake and the values 
generally predicted from theoret ica l  s t u d i e ~  and ship network determinations. 
3. ECOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE NIAGARA RIVER PLUME IWD AREA (reported by 
G. Harris)  
I n  production ecology s tudies  i n  the  area of the Niagara River 
plume, L. Ontario, imagery from the  ERTS elmulatiotl f l i g h t s  has been found 
t o  be useful  fo r  synoptic views of plume behaviour. I n  July  1972 production 
ecology s tudies  were carr ied out from a moored barge1 2.8 kin N of Four 
Mile Point Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The objective of the  study was 
t o  examine the rt!lationship between water mixing and production. Simultaneous 
measurements of chlorophyll (Strickland and Parsons 1968), Turbidity, 
Production i n  s i t u  (Steemand-Nielsen 1952) and water mixing parameters were 
made. 
On numerous occasions, peculiar  chlorophyll and tu rb id i ty  d i s t r ibu t ions  
were noted. Fig. 3 gives one such example. On July  11th the  chlorophyll 
and turbidi ty  d i s t r ibu t ions  were rapidly reversed a t  1200 hrs.  i n  the  absence 
of e f fec t ive  wind mixing i n  the  previous few hours. The p lo t  of chlorophyll 
vs. tu rb id i ty  (Fig. 3) c l e a r l y  shows t h a t  the  water masses a t  Om and 5m have 
reversed posit ions.  
Examination of the  imagery from t h e  June RB57 overf l ight  (see Fig. 4) 
allowed ue t o  in te rp re t  these aor ta  of chlorophyll and t ~ l r b i d i t y  pat terns .  
Ground t r u t h  data gathered i n  June '72 showed a c l e a r  high tu rb id i ty  i n  the  
plune area and a low chlorophyll concentzation i n  the  plume, presumably 
caused by c e l l  destruction upriver a t  t h e  t a l l r .  The plume tu rb id i ty  is 
c lea r ly  associated with i n d u s t r i a l  e f f luen t s  from t h e  c i t y  of Buffalo as 
seen i n  the RB57 imagery from 19 October 1970. On June 7th, 1972 imagery 
t h e  plumecan be aeen t o  be tlpreading behind t h e  Niagara bar and flowing 
out i n t o  the  lake. On June 5th two sequential  r a t 8  of imagery were 
obtained 35 minr. apar t  which ullowed u r  t o  in te rp re t  dynamic feature8 of 
the  plumes from t h e  Niagara Ri-c~;.,. a d  t h e  Welland Canal. Overlayr of the  
p l u m  ou t l ine r  show changes i n  rhape m u n t i n #  t o  ~ p r d i n g  rater of 600 m 
t o  1100 m i n  35 minutea (28-52 m/rec.). Them flow rates are up t o  5 timer 
the  ve loc i t i e s  that are amrociatd with wind .ix* e f f e c t r  and it can be  
mean why they have ruch e f f e c t r  on mmplkj i n  t& rivm p l m e  arm. 
The thermal bar is clearly visible on the June 5th imagery marked 
by a large oil slick. It should be noted that on examination of sun glint 
areas, the surface of the water reveals many details of the river plume 
mixing into the lake as well ae the thermal bar. Examination of s ~ c h  areas 
ehowr promise for further work in this study area. Surface patterns indicate 
a puleing effect ae the river flowe over the shallowe of the Eiiagara Bar 
into the Lake. 
Further etudy of thie test eite ie in progress, but it can be eeen 
that repeated flights over a ehort time period are of great value when dynamic 
features of the lake ere being studied. Gcound truth in such an area is not 
eaey to collect because of theee water velocities and only aerial photography 
can give the complete synoptic picture at one point in time without a large 
fleet of veeeele and prohibitive coat. Water turbidity is very important 
in controlling plant production, by limiting light distribution underwater; 
remote eeneing techniques would appear to be a promising method for detection 
of turbidity and sumpended solids inputs. 
4 .  STUDIES OVER THE LAND AREA 
In the land area of the baein a model of either flood conditions of 
a stream or a model of cdntinuous flow requires detail of the baain 
characterietica. Meteorological data are available or can be made available 
for large areae. The response of a baein can only be predicted if ite 
characterittice can be modelled and the effect of theee characterietice ie 
primarily in storage within the barin or lose by evaporation (Dickison a~ld 
Whiteley 1970, Dickineon and Douglas 1972). - Evaporation losses can be 
ertimRted from a knowledge of vegetation cover (land-uae data) and stored 
moirture can be estimeted from measuremente of eoil moisture. Other aspecte 
of etorage eeem to be a function of terrain type and surficial geology 
(which may be temed geamorphology) . 
Vegetation cover and land-ure rtudier over regional zoner appear to 
be porrible uring ERTS imagery (roe University of Michigan CLtudier)-. Over 
mull area teat barinc RB-57 data have been ured for land-ure data and 
the resulting correlation between image danrity and roilmodrture statue I 
1: 
permit8 ertia3crtLon of roil moirtura valuer. Thir rerult har been achieved 
through correction of high altitude imagery (CoZlinr 1972, MacDaw.11 at a1 ! 
1972) a d  a knowledge of soil typer. Work by Protr and hir arsociater 
(C1hl.r and 'Ptote, 19728, 1972b, 1973, Crorron and Protz 1972, 1973a, 1973b) 
h r  rhown that the charactcrirticr of roilr which can be detected by rmrorr 
are not necorrarily thore which are roprwmted on publirhed mapr. Thir 
I t 
i 
work also indicatw that major soil differmcer can be detected. Intor8ctionr of t 
rlnpe typo, rlop~ clarr and roil proportior are important, ro too are 
I ! 
intoractioru betyeon paront matorial a d  moil type and all hvo an effect 
on soirtura rtatur. 
For dolling of hydrologic rarponre of river barinr th. ~ l o d g o  f i 
both roil type awl terrain usritr ir irp4tknta From IUb57 data tho important 1 p r m t a r  for prll barinr can bo mumurod. Exahation of lRT8 data to i &to rovulr t h t  phniographic u p r  and roil aroacbtioar mapr do not appur 
to be dirqctly comptablo with BRTS-1 intmp-zotation. Tbur, for rw$onu 1 ,  
interpretation of hydrologic parameters from ERTS we must determine the 
precise nature of the properties which ERTS-1 detects. It appears that 
useful physiographic information can be obtained from ERTS data (Bruce and 
Howarth 1972) and at the 1:250,000 scale ERTS provides a more accurate 
record of wetlands than existing maps. ERTS also permits measurement acrona 
the image so that determination of required ir~formation within the whole 
region appears possible. 
5. CONCLUSIONS 
ERTS-1 data provide a definition of the macro-scopic features within 
the Lake Ontario Test-site. Definition of lake features including river 
plumes and effluent upwelling is possible. The significance of other detail 
within the ,ake is difficult to determine because many features of the lake 
are dynamic features and detaLed ground truth data cannot be gathered in 
the available time interval. High altitude (RB--57) data appear to offer 
the essential step in the correlation of lake behavior with ERTS data 
by providing keys to the time nature of the major patures. 
Over the land area ERTS-1 data offer regional scale information which 
could yield input fcr models of river basin response and thus provide 
important data for lake level control. Maps of land-use, vegetation type 
soil regions and physiographic regions would provide important information 
and the preparation of such maps is being investigated. It is clear that 
ERTS-1 data offer many advantages over regional area mosaics for this 
purpose and the detail availabe ie far greater than shown on exieting mape. 
The ERTS-1 data also apply to the present-day situation. At the present 
time it appears that ERTS-1 offers hope of improving predictions of discharge 
from river systems. Conversely ERTS-1 alao provides a basis on which to 
plan instrumentation and control of river eystems. 
University of Michigan Willow Run Laboratoriee for negative prints 
of ERTS-1 data, University of Guelph Audio Viawl DepartPant and F. Adam, 
D. Irvine, C. Klink for preparation of diagrams and V. Salomoneon of NASA 
for use of ERTS imagery. Input from Ontario Ministry of the Enviroament 
and C.C.I.W. personnel during the progreeo of the project ie grentefully 
acknowledged. 
REFERENCES 
Boyce, F.M. and K.P.B. Thompon, 1972. "Internal waver of finite 
amplitude in Lake Ontario". CClW Technical Sarieo (in preen) 
Bruce. W.D. and P.J. Rowarth, 1972. "Geaoorphic eignificance of rurface 
drainage characterirticm interpreted from ERTS-A simulation imagary". 
Proc. Firrt Canadian Remote Senring Sympoaiun. Ottawa. 
Bukata, R.P. and W.D. McColl, 1973. "Th8 utiliution of mn-glint in 
a rtudy of lake dy~micr", to be prermtd at tho AURA rpporirn 
of R m t e  Senning of Water llo.oucam, Bur1Iqpn.c htnrio, JUBO 11-14. 
1973. 
Cihlar, J. and R. Protz, 1972a. "Tone differences preception from film 
transparencies" Photograametria 28, pp. 131-40. 
Cihlar, J. and R. Protz, 1972b. "Cobr-film densities for Soils P.1." 
Photogrammetric Engineering 38, pp. 1091-1098. 
Cihlar, J. and R. Protz, 1973. "Surface Characteristics of Mapping 
Units related to Aarial Imaging of Soils". (in preparation) 
Collins, S.H. 1972. "Block Adjustment of Colour in High-Altitude 
photography" Proc. Firer Canadian Remote Sensing Symposium Ottawa. 
Croeson, L.S. and R. Protz, 1972. "Use of stereoscopic orthqhotos for 
soil-terrain analysis". Proc. First C~nadiiin Remote Senslqg S}mposium. 
Ottawa. 
Crosson, L.S. and R. Protz, 1973. "surface characteristice of mapping units 
related to aerial imaging of soils". (in preparation) 
Crosson, L.A. and R. Protz, 1973. "Prediction of Soil Properties from 
Stereorthophoto measurements of Landf o m  propertiesn. (in preparatio.1) 
Dickinson, W.T. and H. Whiteley, 1970. "Waterehed areas contributing to 
runoff" Proc. I.A.S.H. Symposium Wellington, N.Z. 
Dickinson, W.T. and R. Douglas, 1972. "A mathematical model of the Cam 
experimental cerchment" Institute cf  Hydrology technical report, 
Wallingford, England. 
MacDowall, J., A. Falconer and K.P.B. Thomeon, 1972. "Simulation studies 
of ERTS-A and B data for hydrologic studies in the Lake Ontario 
baein". Report presented to the 4th Annual Earth Resourcee Program 
Review, Ma~~ned Spacecraft Centre, Houeton, Texas, J~nuary 17-21, 
1972. 
14 
~tesman-iialeen, E., 1952. "The use of radio-active carbon (C ) for 
measuring organic production in the eea" . J . Coneeil , Coneeil 
Perm. Intern. Exploration Msr. 18, pp. 117-140. 
Stricklad, J.D.H. and Pareons, T.R., 1968. "A practical handbook of 
seawater analyaie" Bulletin No. 167, Fieheriee Research Board of 
Canada. Ottawa. 


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Studies in the Lake Ontario Basin using ERTS-1 and high altitude data

Studies in the Lake Ontario Basin using ERTS-1 and high altitude data

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