Abstract
The opening of the Bonnet Carré spillway to prevent flood threat to New Orleans in April 2008 created a sediment plume in the Lake Pontchartrain. The nutrient rich plume triggered a massive algal bloom in the lake. In this article, we have quantified the spatio-temporal distribution of the plume (suspended solids) and the bloom (chlorophyll-a (chl-a)) in the lake using remotely-sensed data. We processed the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite data for mapping the total suspended solids (TSS) and chl-a concentrations. An existing algorithm was used for estimating TSS whereas a novel slope model was developed to predict the per-pixel chl-a concentration. Both algorithms were successful in capturing the spatio-temporal trend of TSS and chl-a concentrations, respectively. Algal growth was found to be inversely related to TSS concentrations and a time lag of ∼45 days existed between the spillway opening and the appearance of the first algal bloom at an observation location.
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