Monitoring of the development of blue-green algae in the Kuibyshev reservoir using remote sensing indices

Abstract

The research presents the results of remote monitoring of blue-green algae of the Kuibyshev reservoir, leading to eutrophication of the reservoir. Multispectral images were taken by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 remote sensing satellite and were processed by using QGIS software. Satellite images were processed using spectral indices. After using several spectral indices, the three most informative ones were selected: NDVI, NDWI and SIPI. The usage of processed images made it possible to define the boundaries of the distribution of blue-green algae more clearly, as well as the zones of the most intensive development of biomass. The use of several spectral indices made it possible to determine the most suitable data for the usage under adverse meteorological conditions. The analysis of the processed satellite images makes it possible to assess the intensity of the development of blue-green algae. This is the basis for the development of a forecast model of biomass changes in the reservoirs of the middle zone of the Russian Federation.