Changes in turbidity along Ganga River using Sentinel-2 satellite data during lockdown associated with COVID-19

Abstract

India had announced the longest ever lockdown from 25 March 2020 to 14 April 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic. It was reported that the water quality of the Ganga River has improved as compared to regular during this country-wide lockdown. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the change in water quality of the river in terms of turbidity purely through remote sensing data, in the absence of ground observations, especially during this time period. The change in spectral reflectance of water along the river in the visible region has been analyzed using the Sentinel-2 multispectral remote sensing data at Haridwar, Kanpur, Prayagraj, and Varanasi stretches of the river. In the present study, it was found that the red and NIR bands are most sensitive, and can be used to estimate the turbidity. Further, the temporal variation in turbidity was also analyzed through normalized difference turbidity index at each location. It was observed that the turbidity in the river has reduced drastically at each stretch of the river. The study elicited that the remote sensing approach can be used to make qualitative estimates on turbidity, even in the absence of field observations.