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The suitability of using Landsat TM-5 Images for estimating chromophoric dissolved organic matter in subarctic Lakes

Jakobsson, Julia LU (2014) In Student thesis series INES NGEK01 20132
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Abstract
Recent trends of permafrost thawing in the subarctic are expected to cause increased release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to inland waters, which might have cascading effects on downstream aquatic ecosystems and release of CO2 to the atmosphere. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the applicability of an empirical band ratio algorithm for estimating chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM; a proxy for DOC) from the easily accessible satellite images Landsat TM-5, to counter the inaccessibility of the region in general. The study targeted 14 smaller lakes in the Stordalen catchment in northern Sweden where values of CDOM absorbance had been obtained from the summer of 2009 that could be used to evaluate algorithm suitability.... (More)
Recent trends of permafrost thawing in the subarctic are expected to cause increased release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to inland waters, which might have cascading effects on downstream aquatic ecosystems and release of CO2 to the atmosphere. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the applicability of an empirical band ratio algorithm for estimating chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM; a proxy for DOC) from the easily accessible satellite images Landsat TM-5, to counter the inaccessibility of the region in general. The study targeted 14 smaller lakes in the Stordalen catchment in northern Sweden where values of CDOM absorbance had been obtained from the summer of 2009 that could be used to evaluate algorithm suitability. The satellite image type and algorithm have been successfully applied to predict CDOM in previous studies of lakes with relatively high absorbance, but in this study no significant correlations were found between the in situ measured and the remote sensing estimates for the studied lakes (in situ aCDOM (440) = 0.29 - 1.22 m-1; R2 ≤ 0.21); except for when lakes with certain characteristics were tested separately (shallow lakes R2 = 0.86). It was concluded that Landsat TM-5 images are not generally suitable for estimating CDOM in the Stordalen area. However higher quality satellite products probably would; since with a higher ground-, spectral- and radiometric resolution some disturbances could be reduced, more lakes could be included in the study and they would be more accurately recorded. Nonetheless more in situ collected data is needed for supporting the discussed deductions and for adaptive algorithm modifications. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jakobsson, Julia LU
supervisor
organization
course
NGEK01 20132
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
CDOM, dissolved organic carbon, colored dissolved organic matter, Chromophoric, landsat thematic mapper 5, subarctic lakes, Stordalen, empirical algorithm., Abisko, DOC, remote sensing, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
publication/series
Student thesis series INES
report number
299
language
English
additional info
External technical supervisor: Sam Kallaghi, Center for Geographical Information Systems, Lund University
id
4281362
date added to LUP
2014-02-24 13:35:35
date last changed
2014-02-24 13:35:35
@misc{4281362,
  abstract     = {{Recent trends of permafrost thawing in the subarctic are expected to cause increased release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to inland waters, which might have cascading effects on downstream aquatic ecosystems and release of CO2 to the atmosphere. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the applicability of an empirical band ratio algorithm for estimating chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM; a proxy for DOC) from the easily accessible satellite images Landsat TM-5, to counter the inaccessibility of the region in general. The study targeted 14 smaller lakes in the Stordalen catchment in northern Sweden where values of CDOM absorbance had been obtained from the summer of 2009 that could be used to evaluate algorithm suitability. The satellite image type and algorithm have been successfully applied to predict CDOM in previous studies of lakes with relatively high absorbance, but in this study no significant correlations were found between the in situ measured and the remote sensing estimates for the studied lakes (in situ aCDOM (440) = 0.29 - 1.22 m-1; R2 ≤ 0.21); except for when lakes with certain characteristics were tested separately (shallow lakes R2 = 0.86). It was concluded that Landsat TM-5 images are not generally suitable for estimating CDOM in the Stordalen area. However higher quality satellite products probably would; since with a higher ground-, spectral- and radiometric resolution some disturbances could be reduced, more lakes could be included in the study and they would be more accurately recorded. Nonetheless more in situ collected data is needed for supporting the discussed deductions and for adaptive algorithm modifications.}},
  author       = {{Jakobsson, Julia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Student thesis series INES}},
  title        = {{The suitability of using Landsat TM-5 Images for estimating chromophoric dissolved organic matter in subarctic Lakes}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}