Monitoring chlorophyll a (CHLA) by remote sensing is particularly challenging for turbid productive waters. Although several empirical and semianalytical algorithms have been developed for such waters, their accuracy varies significantly due to variability in optical properties. In this paper, we evaluated the performance of six CHLA concentration (C _chla ) estimation algorithms [e.g., two-band ratio algorithm (TBR), normalized difference chlorophyll index (NDCI), synthetic chlorophyll index (SCI), three-band algorithm (TBS), four-band algorithm (FBS), and improved four-band algorithm (IOC3M)] for a highly turbid lake based on remote sensing reflectance classification. Remote sensing reflectance was classified using the iterative k-mean clustering method. We also developed four estimation schemes (S1-S4) for the six algorithms to assess the effect of the estimation scheme on the accuracy of the algorithms. The estimation schemes were developed based on classification methods (no, soft, or hard classification) and the optimization bands used. The six algorithms performed differently for different remote sensing reflectance classes and different estimation schemes. The optimal algorithms for Classes 1, 2, and 3 were TBS, NDCI, and TBR, respectively. For the four estimation schemes, TBS and NDCI outperformed the other four algorithms. The accuracy of TBS and NDCI was higher than FBS, IOC3M, TBR, and SCI. The accuracy of all six algorithms was improved by remote sensing reflectance classification, particularly for Classes 2 and 3. Soft classification with recalibration of the bands for each class outperformed hard classification for all the three classes.

In the Tibetan Plateau (TP), the changes of lake ice phenology not only reflect regional climate change, but also impose substantial ecohydrological impacts on the local environment. Due to the limitation of ground observation, remote sensing has been used as an alternative tool to investigate recent changes of lake ice phenology. However, uncertainties exist in the remotely sensed lake ice phenology owing to both the data and methods used. In this paper, three different remotely sensed datasets are used to investigate the lake ice phenology variation in the past decade across the Tibetan Plateau, with the consideration of the underlying uncertainties. The remotely sensed data used include reflectance data, snow product, and land surface temperature (LST) data of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS). The uncertainties of the three methods based on the corresponding data are assessed using the triple collocation approach. Comparatively, it is found that the method based on reflectance data outperforms the other two methods. The three methods are more consistent in determining the thawing dates rather than the freezing dates of lake ice. It is consistently shown by the three methods that the ice-covering duration in the northern part of the TP lasts longer than that in the south. Though there is no general trend of lake ice phenology across the TP for the period of 2000–2015, the warmer climate and stronger wind have led to the earlier break-up of lake ice.

Urban black and odorous water (BOW) is a serious global environmental problem. Since these waters are often narrow rivers or small ponds, the detection of BOW waters using traditional satellite data and algorithms is limited both by a lack of spatial resolution and by imperfect retrieval algorithms. In this paper, we used the Chinese high-resolution remote sensing satellite Gaofen-2 (GF-2, 0.8 m). The atmospheric correction showed that the mean absolute percentage error of the derived remote sensing reflectance (R _rs ) in visible bands is 25.19%. We first measured R _rs spectra of two classes of BOW [BOW with high concentrations of iron (II) sulfide, i.e., BOW1 and BOW with high concentrations of total suspended matter, i.e., BOW2] and ordinary water in Shenyang. Then, in situ R _rs data were converted into Rrs corresponding to the wide GF-2 bands using the spectral response functions. We used the converted R _rs data to calculate several band combinations, including the baseline height, [R _rs (green) - R _rs (red))/(R _rs (green) + R _rs (red)], and the color purity on a Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity diagram. The color purity was found to be the best index to extract BOW from ordinary water. Then, R _rs (645) was applied to categorize BOW into BOW1 and BOW2. We applied the algorithm to two synchronous GF-2 images. The recognition accuracy of BOW2 and ordinary water are both 100%. The extracted river water type near Weishanhu Road was BOW1, which agreed well with ground truth. The algorithm was further applied to other GF-2 data for Shenyang and Beijing.

Due to the coarse spatial resolution and saturation issues associated with the 1-km ocean bands of MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) instruments, the higher resolution (250 and 500 m) land bands are tended to be used for water color applications in coastal and inland waters. However, these wide spectral bands provide limited spectral information; therefore, resolving the chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla) signal in highly turbid waters poses a significant challenge. In this study, we present a classification-based algorithm to estimate Chla in a highly turbid eutrophic lake, Taihu Lake in Eastern China, using four visible to near-infrared land bands of MODIS observations. A threshold segmentation method of MODIS Rrs(555)/Rrs(645) was used to categorize the lake into two classes: Chla-dominated waters (Class 1) and suspended particulate matter (SPM)-dominated waters (Class 2). Then, a band ratio of Rrs(859)/Rrs(645) was applied to retrieve Chla in Class 1, and a newly proposed spectral index, the Anti-SPM Chlorophyll-a Index (ASCI), was used to estimate Chla in Class 2. Validation using the leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) method showed that the average unbiased relative error (AURE) of the derived Chla is 44.4%, and the coefficient of determination (R ² ) is 0.55. The algorithm was further applied to MODIS data of Taihu Lake between 2000 and 2015 to obtain Chla time series maps, whose spatial and temporal patterns agreed well with previous studies.

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) in inland water have emerged as a major global environmental challenge. Although satellite remote sensing technology has been widely used to monitor CyanoHABs, there are also some automatic extraction methods of CyanoHABs based on spectral indices (such as gradient mode, fixed threshold, and the Otsu method, etc.), the accuracy is generally not very high. This study developed a high-precision automatic extraction model for CyanoHABs using a deep learning (DL) network based on Sentinel-2 multi-spectral instrument (MSI) data of Chaohu Lake, China. First, we generated the CyanoHABs “ground truth” dataset based on visual interpretation. Thereafter, we trained the CyanoHABs extraction model based on a DL image segmentation network (U-Net) and extracted CyanoHABs. Then, we compared three previous automatic CyanoHABs extraction methods based on spectral index threshold segmentation and evaluated the accuracy of the results. Based on “ground truth”, at the pixel level, the F1 score and relative error (RE) of the DL model extraction results are 0.90 and 3%, respectively, which are better than that of the gradient mode (0.81,40%), the fixed threshold (0.81, 31%), and the Otsu method (0.53, 62%); at CyanoHABs area level, the R² of the scatter fitting between DL model result and the “ground truth” is 0.99, which is also higher than the other three methods (0.90, 0.92, 0.84, respectively). Finally, we produced the annual CyanoHABs frequency map based on DL model results. The frequency map showed that the CyanoHABs on the northwest bank are significantly higher than in the center and east of Chaohu Lake, and the most serious CyanoHABs occurred in 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, CyanoHAB extraction based on this model did not cause cloud misjudgment and exhibited good promotion ability in Taihu Lake, China. Hence, our findings indicate the high potential of the CyanoHABs extraction model based on DL in further high-precision and automatic extraction of CyanoHABs from large-scale water bodies.

The Forel-Ule Index (FUI) is an important parameter that can be calculated from optical remote sensing data to assess water quality based on water colour. Using Sentinel-2 images from April to November within the 2016–2020 period coupled with the Google Earth Engine Platform, we calculated FUI to analyse the spatial distribution, seasonal variations, and inter-annual variations of water colour in Baiyangdian Lake in the Xiong’an New Area established on 1 April 2017. The lake was divided into seven sub-regions, A–G; subsequently, high and low FUI values were observed in the south and north, respectively. Additionally, the mean FUI values of G and F zones in the south were 11.9 and 12.7, respectively, whereas those for the A, B, C, D, and E zones in the north were 10.5, 9.8, 10.4, 11.1, 11.2, respectively. The seasonal variations in the Baiyangdian Lake and seven sub-regions were consistent, with turbid water in spring and autumn, and clear water in summer. Inter-annual variations analyses for 2016–2020 indicated that the zone of A became progressively turbid, whereas the B, C, D, E, F, and G zones exhibited slow and gradually decreasing trends. Our findings suggest that the overall water quality of Baiyangdian Lake may be better, which may be related to the governance policies of the region.