Section: Monitoring of natural and anthropogenically disturbed areas
Anthropogenic activities greatly affect aquatic systems. Regulation of water resources in reservoirs and various sources of pollution play a key role in altering water quality parameters. Therefore, it is increasingly important to monitor the water quality for identifying potentially contaminated sites of water bodies where high levels of turbidity and chlorophyll a (Chl a) are observed. Despite the simplicity of measuring the above parameters, their application requires significant resources, including material, human, and temporal resources. Therefore, there is growing interest in utilizing remote sensing technologies for water quality assessment. The aim of this study was to assess the water sources status in the Saratov region from 2008 to 2023 in terms of turbidity and Chl a content based on satellite monitoring data. The study analyzed the sites of the Volga River (Saratov reservoir) and the Bolshoy Karaman River, used by the population for domestic water supply. The obtained results allowed developing and justificating a model for monitoring the density and spatial distribution of plankton algae in the Volga River based on the number of sunny days, air temperature, precipitation, and the spillway volume of the Saratov hydroelectric power station. The research findings showed a pronounced trend towards increased turbidity and Chl a content in the water of the Bolshoy Karaman and Volga rivers during the study period. The identified patterns can be used to create a remote monitoring system for the aquatic environment, which in the long term will reduce the need for contact measurements in water sources suitable for satellite observation.
Keywords: turbidity, chlorophyll a, water sources, satellite monitoring
Article published in number 3 for 2025 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2025-3-056-064
ISSN 1995-4301
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