THE XXVI-TH SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM

Monitoring lakes trophic state

based on aquatic vegetation survey
by means of Sentinel 2 images

HANGANU Jenică, CONSTANTINESCU Adrian, COVALIOV Silviu

Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

INCDDD
Study site

Danube Delta: which has

over 300 lakes, many
difficult to access.

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

STEPS FOR MAPPING AQUATIC VEGETATION TYPES

I. COLLECTION OF VEGETATION SAMPLES – Training sites

II. RUN THEMATIC ALGORITHMS

III. SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION OF THE SATELLITE

IMAGES

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 I. COLLECTION OF VEGETATION SAMPLES

Collection of vegetation samples - Ground Control Points (GCP)

was carried out in June, July and September 2016 - 2017

The number of samples for each lake was established according

to lake’s size and the variation of aquatic vegetation coverage.

For each sample, the geographic coordinates were recorded by

means of a portable GPS, the water transparency and depth
were set with the Secchi disk.

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

  Species Database

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Species distribution and composition

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Water depth

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Water transparency

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

  Correlation between biota and abiotic factors

Lake Vegetation type P total Clorofila "a" Conectivity type

mg/L µg/L

Rosulet Myriophyllum verticillatum 0,020 0,000 3

Rosu Potamogeton crispus 0,013 22,496 2

Iacub Chara 0,059 13,02 3

Iacub Trapa natans 0,034 22,496 1

Fortuna Myriophyllum spicatum 0,057 0,000 3

Canal spre
Sontea Nymphaea alba 0,038 3

Nebunu Elodea nuttallii 0,023 5,920 2

Merheiu Mare Chara 0,014 10,656 3

Erenciuc Ceratophyllum demersum 0,084 159,248 1

SENZITIVE SPECIES

TOLERANT SPECIES

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 II. RUN THEMATIC ALGORITHMS

 Discrimination of aquatic vegetation types is based on Sentinel

2 images;

 Sentinel-2 is the first mission for the optical observation of the

earth which includes four bands in ‘red marginal vegetation’
(705nm, 740nm, 775nm and 865nm) providing essential
information with concern to the vegetation state;

 The satellites ensure a systematic coverage of the terrain

with a 10-day repetition by a single satellite and a 5-day
repetition by two satellites

 The images are of high optical resolution, 13 bands, have

290 km visual bandwidth and a 10m, 20m or 60m resolution

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

  MSI images have been downloaded from the platform
“Sentinels Scientific Data Hub” (https://scihub.copernicus.eu/).

 The satellite images processing has been done with the

programme „Sentinel-2 Toolbox (S2TBX) on the platform
SNAP (Sentinel Application Platform)

 A series of specific thematic algorithms have been processed

within Sentinel-2 Toolbox programme.

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION METHODS

Selection of training Generate spectral

polygons signatures of
species types

Run Supervised
classification of
the images

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Generate spectral signatures of species types

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
THEMATIC ALGORITHMS
The vegetation index
The algorithm ‘Vegetation Index Ratio’ (RVI) indicates the vegetation quantity. The
result show a good discrimination of both floating vegetation (Nymphaea sp., Nuphar
luteum, Trapa natans and Stratiodes aloides) and areas with active sedimentation.

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 The algorithm Normalized Difference Water Index’ (NDWI)

The result of processing these algorithms (NDWI) reveal areas with

a larger aquatic vegetation coverage.

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

The second algorithm ‘Normalized Difference Water Index ‘(NDWI2)
It prove to allow measuring the width of the water surfaces

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION

Overview of species type distribution

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Lake Merhei

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Lake Fortuna

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Lake Isac - Uzlina

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 CONCLUSSIONS
(THEMATIC ALGORITHMS )

 The Vegetation Index prove to be good for discrimination of both

floating vegetation (Trapa natans) and areas with active
sedimentation;

 The algorithm ‘Normalized Difference Water Index’ (NDWI) has

proved to be very useful in getting a gradient of coverage with
aquatic vegetation on each lake;

 The second algorithm ‘Normalized Difference Water Index

‘(NDWI2) help in delineation of the water surfaces

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 CONCLUSSIONS
(SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION)

The following species or group of species could be discriminated :

• Ceratophyllum sp.;
• Chara sp.;
• Myriophyllum spicatum;
• Nuphar luteum, Nymphaea alba/candida;
• Stratiotes aloides;
• Trapa natans.

The other species prove more difficult to be mapped

Next: fine tuning of the methods (e.g. at different water levels and
seasons) and translation of results in water quality classes (WFD)

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Romanian Nucleus

Program, PN 16 28, contract no. 47N/2016, project cod No 16 28 01
02 “Studii suport pentru elaborarea metodologiei de caracterizare a
stării ecologice a lacurilor pe baza speciilor de macrofite acvatice„

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A

 Thank you for your attention!

Contat details:

PhD. Eng. Jenica HANGANU

jenica.hanganu@ddni.ro

DELTAS AND WETLANDS 1 6 – 2 0 M A Y, 2 0 1 8 – T U L C E A , R O M Â N I A