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• Liu, C
• Wang, C
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• Liu, C
• Wang, C
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• Liu, C
• Wang, C

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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10(2), 478-489; doi:10.3390/ijerph10020478

Article

Identifying the Relationships between Water Quality and Land Cover Changes in the Tseng-Wen Reservoir Watershed of Taiwan

Hone-Jay Chu* , Chun-Yu Liu and Chi-Kuei Wang

Department of Geomatics, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 22 September 2012; in revised form: 31 December 2012 / Accepted: 21 January 2013 / Published: 28 January 2013

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment, Management, and Policy-Making for Environmental Pollution Related to Land Use and Land Cover)

Download PDF Full-Text [2209 KB, Updated Version, uploaded 29 January 2013 13:55 CET]

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Abstract: The effects on water quality of land use and land cover changes, which are associated with human activities and natural factors, are poorly identified. Fine resolution satellite imagery provides opportunities for land cover monitoring and assessment. The multiple satellite images after typhoon events collected from 2001 to 2010 covering land areas and land cover conditions are evaluated by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The relationship between land cover and observed water quality, such as suspended solids (SS) and nitrate-nitrogens (NO₃-N), are explored in the study area. Results show that the long-term variations in water quality are explained by NDVI data in the reservoir buffer zones. Suspended solid and nitrate concentrations are related to average NDVI values on multiple spatial scales. Annual NO₃-N concentrations are positively correlated with an average NDVI with a 1 km reservoir buffer area, and the SS after typhoon events associated with landslides are negatively correlated with the average NDVI in the entire watershed. This study provides an approach for assessing the influences of land cover on variations in water quality.

Keywords: remote sensing; NDVI; water quality; land cover change; regression

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