Imaging spectrometry of productive inland waters. Application to the lakes of Mantua

In this study remote sensing techniques have been used for small scale analysis of water temperature, chlorophyll a (chl-a) and total suspended solids (TSS) in three shallow eutrophic lakes (Mantua Lakes, Italy), characterised by variable depths, complex hydrodinamics and elevated primary production of both microalgae and floating leaved macrophytes. Airborne hyperspectral data, acquired in summer 2007, were combined with semi-empirical modelling and provided acceptable estimation of chl-a (error 18%) and TSS concentrations (error 24%). The image-derived maps, complemented with the thermal image (error 3%), confirm the hypereutrophic-dystrophic conditions of Mantua Lakes and show the patchy spatial distribution of analysed parameters.