A multidisciplinary approach for Small reservoirs monitoring

The work aims at developing a multidisciplinary strategy for the monitoring, assessment, valorization and possible use of small reservoirs in the framework of resilient water resources management. Specifically, we focus on water quality and quantity analysis using an integrated approach between remote sensing data and in situ observations.

The topic is part of the SIGHTING- Small reservoIrs restoration: Green blu-infrastructures to enHance rural area resilience To clImate change-project, that is devoted to the study of lakes in  the upper Umbria Region (Central Italy).

First, available satellite data, coupled also with the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, are used to investigate in the last decade, the spatial distribution, the seasonal variations and the inter-annual variations of target water quality parameters such as the chlorophyll Chl-a concentration and turbidity. Different products with increasing spatial resolution. e.g. Sentinel -2 and Planet-Scope (from 20m to 3.7m), freely available for research use, are tested. These data, acquired with a regular revisit time of few days, allows a continuous monitoring of the water resource.

The procedure is validated for a pilot cases study, calibrating derived results on the base of in situ monitoring data. In July 2024, the water quality survey has been conducted on a small shallow pilot study lake, of about 33200 m², collecting  20 samples for chemical and physical analysis.

The procedure, even if limited to a pilot case study, allows to establish the potentialities and weakness of the free satellite data used, also in the context of a possible extension to a largest spatial scale (regional/national).