Coastal water quality monitoring in Cyprus using satellite remote sensing

Abstract

Knowledge of the current ecological state is of vital importance for coastal zone management. Due to the optical complexity of coastal waters compared to the open ocean, more sophisticated instruments and algorithms are needed to derive relevant variables. Satellite remote sensing allows the spatial and temporal assessment of various physical, biological and ecological parameters of water bodies on global and regional scales. Indeed, this project presents the methodology and results obtained by using satellite remote sensing for assessing quality spatial and temporal variations in the coastline of Paphos and Limassol District areas in Cyprus. In-situ spectraradiometric measurements have been collected to retrieve the surface reflectance of the coastal waters so as to validate our proposed methodology. Time series Landsat-5/7 TM/ETM+ images have been used. Such coastal water quality assessment can assist the Blue-Flag Programme in these areas.