Development and application of a method for basic water quality assessment of the world's major rivers by remote sensing

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K04681
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 22060:Environmental systems for civil engineering-related
• Research Institution: National Institute for Environmental Studies
• Principal Investigator: Masago Yoshifumi 国立研究開発法人国立環境研究所, 気候変動適応センター, 室長 (50507895)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: リモートセンシング / 水質評価 / モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A water quality assessment method using satellite data was developed and applied to water bodies around the world. The developed method not only enabled us to evaluate changes in water quality over time, but also to analyze the effects of extreme weather events, river flows, dams, and land use changes. We also developed a method to evaluate basic water quality (BOD and total coliforms) using a machine learning model in conjunction with satellite data and socioeconomic data. We also analyzed cases where social activities were curtailed and water quality improved as a result of lockdowns implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Free Research Field

環境工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

衛星データによる水質評価では、モデルを適用できる地域が限られること、一般に水質評価に用いられる指標の評価ができないことが課題であった。前者については最新のクラウドプラットフォームの活用により広大な水域の評価を可能とした。また後者については衛星データと社会経済データを統合し、実測による評価しかできない基礎的な水質項目の評価が可能であることを示した。