Field-based monitoring of aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes and wetlands, is limited by logistic constraints and costs that hamper timeliness and spatial coverage of data collection, more than what happens in most terrestrial biomes. Yet, anthropic impacts - direct and indirect - are critically endangering inland and transitional habitats even more seriously and rapidly than other ecosystem types (IPBES, 2019). With the technical developments of spaceborne platforms and increasing operational uptake - developed for Europe in the context of Copernicus program, and supporting the implementation of Water Framework and Habitats directives - ecologically significant applications of remote sensing have become a reality in the last decade. Earth Observation (EO) has fast become the ideal candidate tool to map aquatic ecosystem assets and conditions quantitatively and efficiently, constituting targets for their accounting. In particular, EO can provide frequent and synoptic data at multiple scales (from local to global) that cover aquatic ecosystem variables, dealing with physical, structural, functional and landscape features (UN SEEA EA, 2021), such as: water parameters, water extent and level, phytoplankton blooms, aquatic vegetation composition (including diversity), functioning of primary producers. We will present quasi-operational examples showing monitoring spatial and temporal dynamics of freshwater and wetland ecosystems in a multidimensional, integrated framework, developed over selected case studies in Italy. In particular, the potential of EO is demonstrated for: i) assessing temporal evolution of key ecosystem variables - water turbidity, submerged macrophyte cover and riparian vegetation phenology - in perialpine Lake Mezzola, in response to environmental stressors; ii) mapping intra-annual dynamics of primary producers - phytoplankton abundance and floating/emergent macrophyte density - in eutrophic Mantua lakes system; and iii) near real-time detecting of anomalous features of water quality (Chlorophyll-a concentration) and aquatic plant communities (cover and density) along the growing season over shallow, turbid Lake Varese.
Monitoring multidimensional spatial and temporal dynamics of aquatic ecosystems using Earth Observation data
Paolo Villa;Mariano Bresciani;Monica Pinardi;Erika Piaser;Rossano Bolpagni;Claudia Giardino
2022
Abstract
Field-based monitoring of aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes and wetlands, is limited by logistic constraints and costs that hamper timeliness and spatial coverage of data collection, more than what happens in most terrestrial biomes. Yet, anthropic impacts - direct and indirect - are critically endangering inland and transitional habitats even more seriously and rapidly than other ecosystem types (IPBES, 2019). With the technical developments of spaceborne platforms and increasing operational uptake - developed for Europe in the context of Copernicus program, and supporting the implementation of Water Framework and Habitats directives - ecologically significant applications of remote sensing have become a reality in the last decade. Earth Observation (EO) has fast become the ideal candidate tool to map aquatic ecosystem assets and conditions quantitatively and efficiently, constituting targets for their accounting. In particular, EO can provide frequent and synoptic data at multiple scales (from local to global) that cover aquatic ecosystem variables, dealing with physical, structural, functional and landscape features (UN SEEA EA, 2021), such as: water parameters, water extent and level, phytoplankton blooms, aquatic vegetation composition (including diversity), functioning of primary producers. We will present quasi-operational examples showing monitoring spatial and temporal dynamics of freshwater and wetland ecosystems in a multidimensional, integrated framework, developed over selected case studies in Italy. In particular, the potential of EO is demonstrated for: i) assessing temporal evolution of key ecosystem variables - water turbidity, submerged macrophyte cover and riparian vegetation phenology - in perialpine Lake Mezzola, in response to environmental stressors; ii) mapping intra-annual dynamics of primary producers - phytoplankton abundance and floating/emergent macrophyte density - in eutrophic Mantua lakes system; and iii) near real-time detecting of anomalous features of water quality (Chlorophyll-a concentration) and aquatic plant communities (cover and density) along the growing season over shallow, turbid Lake Varese.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
