Publication Date
12-5-2003
Abstract
Lake George is one of the few remaining places where inhabitants regularly consume unfiltered lake water. Institute researchers monitor Lake George and other regional lakes to determine short-term and long-term effects of human activity, biological and chemical contamination, acid deposition, and other disturbances. For example, researchers monitor the effects of development and the extent of human activities on Lake George, mainly through funds provided by the Fund for Lake George, a private foundation. Lake monitoring research has included studies of phosphorus dynamics, general chemical limnology, contamination by coliform bacteria, and invasion by exotic aquatic vegetation. A recent study was performed to assess water quality in the lake using subpixel photobathymetry and water quality mapping software referred to as QSC2 (Quantitative Shoreline Characterization, Version 2.0). The study investigated the performance of QSC2 with processing results from two Landsat Thematic Mapper images (TM 4/5, August 1993 and TM 7, August 2002). The processing results demonstrate that QSC2 software was able to effectively extract depth, suspended chlorophyll, suspended minerals, colored dissolved organic carbon, and water clarity information from the satellite imagery. TSI was also calculated based on processed results. Results indicate that the lake is moving from oligotrophic to mesotrophic and correspond well to TSI measurements collected using traditional monitoring methods. The processing was fully automatic, requiring no ground truth or other ancillary information about the scene. A prime benefit of the output is the wide-area threedimensional synoptic view of the parameters it provides.