Utilization of Machine Learning Models and Satellite Data for the Estimation of Total Dissolved Solids in the Colorado River System

Adjovu, Godson Ebenezer; Shaikh, Tahir Ali; Stephen, Haroon; Ahmad, Sajjad

doi:10.1061/9780784484852.105

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The population growth around the CRB coupled with the irrigation water requirement has led to dramatic stress on the river. The largest reservoirs on the river, namely Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are experiencing a drastic decline in water levels due to intense drought and increased water demand over the last two decades [46,49]. The river and its tributaries provide water to about 35 million people in the US and 3.3 million people in the Republic of Mexico yearly.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variability in Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids along the Colorado River

2023

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The Colorado River is a principal source of water for 40 million people and farmlands in seven states in the western US and the Republic of Mexico. The river has been under intense pressure from the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities associated with population growth leading to elevated total dissolved solid (TDS) and total suspended solid (TSS) concentrations. Elevated TDS- and TSS-related issues in the basin have a direct negative impact on the water usage and the ecological health of aquatic organisms. This study, therefore, analyzed the spatiotemporal variability in the TDS and TSS concentrations along the river. Results from our analysis show that TDS concentration was significantly higher in the Upper Colorado River Basin while the Lower Colorado River Basin shows a generally high level of TSSs. We found that the activities in these two basins are distinctive and may be a factor in these variations. Results from the Kruskal–Wallis significance test show there are statistically significant differences in TDSs and TSSs from month to month, season to season, and year to year. These significant variations are largely due to seasonal rises in consumptive use, agriculture practices, snowmelts runoffs, and evaporate rates exacerbated by increased temperature in the summer months. The findings from this study will aid in understanding the river’s water quality, detecting the sources and hotspots of pollutions to the river, and guiding legislative actions. The knowledge obtained forms a strong basis for management and conservation efforts and consequently helps to reduce the economic damage caused by these water quality parameters including the over USD 300 million associated with TDS damages.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variability in Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids along the Colorado River

2023

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“…TDS and TSS have been widely monitored using conventional or traditional methods such as laboratory analysis or grab sampling [2,19,35], these methods are, however, time-consuming, expensive, and need a lot of labor. As a prospective alternative to traditional methods for measuring TDS and TSS, remote sensing (RS) techniques have gained popularity in recent years and have proven to be cost-effective in monitoring these WQPs on local to global spatiotemporal scales non-intrusively [2,36,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While conventional methods have been used to monitor WQPs such as TDS and TSS, the use of RS has recently emerged as an alternative force in the monitoring of particularly optically active TSS largely because it can be optically sensed by sensors. Measurements of optically inactive TDS are due to their association with other colored WQPs with which they may co-vary [2,36,37,41]. Despite the significance of monitoring TDS and TSS levels in water bodies, there hasn't been much research published that has compared traditional and RS methods in great depth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids in Water Systems: A Review of the Issues, Conventional, and Remote Sensing Techniques

et al. 2023

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This study provides a comprehensive review of the efforts utilized in the measurement of water quality parameters (WQPs) with a focus on total dissolved solids (TDS) and total suspended solids (TSS). The current method used in the measurement of TDS and TSS includes conventional field and gravimetric approaches. These methods are limited due to the associated cost and labor, and limited spatial coverages. Remote Sensing (RS) applications have, however, been used over the past few decades as an alternative to overcome these limitations. Although they also present underlying atmospheric interferences in images, radiometric and spectral resolution issues. Studies of these WQPs with RS, therefore, require the knowledge and utilization of the best mechanisms. The use of RS for retrieval of TDS, TSS, and their forms has been explored in many studies using images from airborne sensors onboard unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellite sensors such as those onboard the Landsat, Sentinel-2, Aqua, and Terra platforms. The images and their spectral properties serve as inputs for deep learning analysis and statistical, and machine learning models. Methods used to retrieve these WQP measurements are dependent on the optical properties of the inland water bodies. While TSS is an optically active parameter, TDS is optically inactive with a low signal–noise ratio. The detection of TDS in the visible, near-infrared, and infrared bands is due to some process that (usually) co-occurs with changes in the TDS that is affecting a WQP that is optically active. This study revealed significant improvements in incorporating RS and conventional approaches in estimating WQPs. The findings reveal that improved spatiotemporal resolution has the potential to effectively detect changes in the WQPs. For effective monitoring of TDS and TSS using RS, we recommend employing atmospheric correction mechanisms to reduce image atmospheric interference, exploration of the fusion of optical and microwave bands, high-resolution hyperspectral images, utilization of ML and deep learning models, calibration and validation using observed data measured from conventional methods. Further studies could focus on the development of new technology and sensors using UAVs and satellite images to produce real-time in situ monitoring of TDS and TSS. The findings presented in this review aid in consolidating understanding and advancement of TDS and TSS measurements in a single repository thereby offering stakeholders, researchers, decision-makers, and regulatory bodies a go-to information resource to enhance their monitoring efforts and mitigation of water quality impairments.

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Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Key Water Quality Parameters in a Thermal Stratified Lake Ecosystem: The Case Study of Lake Mead

Adjovu

Stephen

Ahmad

2023

Earth

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Lake Mead located in the Arizona–Nevada region of the Mohave Dessert is a unique and complex water system whose flow follows that of a warm monomictic lake. Although monomictic lakes experience thermal stratification for almost the entire year with a period of complete mixing, the lake on occasion deviates from this phenomenon, undergoing incomplete turnovers categorized with light stratifications every other year. The prolonged drought and growing anthropogenic activities have the potential to considerably impact the quality of the lake. Lake Mead and by extension the Boulder Basin receive cooler flow from the Colorado River and flow with varying temperatures from the Las Vegas Wash (LVW), which impacts its stratification and complete turnovers. This study analyzes four key water quality parameters (WQPs), namely, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), temperature, and dissolved oxygen (DO), using statistical and spatial analyses to understand their variations in light of the lake stratifications and turnovers to further maintain its overall quality and sustainability. The study also evaluates the impacts of hydrological variables including in and out flows, storage, evaporation, and water surface elevation on the WQPs. The results produced from the analysis show significant levels of TDS, TSS, and temperature from the LVW and Las Vegas Bay regions compared with the Boulder Basin. LVW is the main channel for conveying effluents from several wastewater treatment facilities into the lake. We observed an increase in the levels of TDS, TSS, and temperature water quality in the epilimnion compared with the other layers of the lake. The metalimnion and the hypolimnion layer, however, showed reduced DO due to depletion by algal blooms. We observed statistically significant differences in the WQPs throughout various months, but not in the case for season and year, an indication of relatively consistent variability throughout each season and year. We also observed a no clear trend of influence of outflows and inflows on TDS, temperature, and DO. TSS concentrations in the lake, however, remained constant, irrespective of the inflows and outflows, possibly due to the settling of the sediments and the reservoir capacity.

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Utilization of Machine Learning Models and Satellite Data for the Estimation of Total Dissolved Solids in the Colorado River System

Cited by 4 publications

References 39 publications

Spatiotemporal Variability in Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids along the Colorado River

Spatiotemporal Variability in Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids along the Colorado River

Measurement of Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids in Water Systems: A Review of the Issues, Conventional, and Remote Sensing Techniques

Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Key Water Quality Parameters in a Thermal Stratified Lake Ecosystem: The Case Study of Lake Mead

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