Surface Water Pollution Risk From Vietnam Water Quality Index (VN-WQI) in the Ca Mau City, Mekong Delta

Abstract

This paper presents the study of integrating the remote sensing technology with in-situ ground observation for assessing the status of water quality in Ca Mau city through the Vietnam Water Quality Index (VN-WQI). The Sentinel-2 image and in-situ surface water samples were collected on 20 February 2020 for this study. The sample results were then specified by samples’ coordination. Besides, Sentinel-2 imaging was processed by radiometric and atmospheric correction, geometric registration, and extracted pixel spectral values from the sample locations. The multiple linear regressions of seven water quality parameters including BOD5, COD, NH4, PO4, TSS, pH, Coliform with surface water’s pixel spectral values from the satellite images were calculated and used to simulate water quality parameters on the satellite image. They were integrated into the VN-WQI to estimate, classify, and evaluate the general surface water quality of the Ca Mau city. The results show that there is a regressive correlation between measured data and image spectral values, and the simulation also well fits with the data with an acceptable error. The surface water quality of Ca Mau city is heavily polluted with almost all water quality parameters recognized at B1 to above B2 level according to the QCVN08-MT:2015/BTNMT. In terms of VN-WQI, the results also illustrate the low quality of surface water and heavy pollution only used for water transportation, not for domestic use. This approach can be a powerful method in spatially monitoring water quality and supporting environment management.