A Convergent Approach to Investigate the Environmental Behavior and Importance of a Man-Made Saltwater Wetland

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Abstract miss statistical evidences to support the key finding

Provide definitions as you provided NDWI in the abstract

Add study area name in keywords

Authors may need to add a few sentences after purposes to focus on the target of the purpose

Authors need to motivate the times' series of field assessment;

Results and discussion should be separate in two different sections.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Reviewer 1

Abstract miss statistical evidences to support the key finding

We appreciate the reviewer’s insightful comment. In response, we have revised the abstract to include key statistical evidence that supports the main findings of our study. This includes metrics from the principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA), as well as quantified seasonal differences in inundation area. Lines 28-31.

Provide definitions as you provided NDWI in the abstract

We thank the reviewer for this useful suggestion. In response, we have provided concise definitions for key acronyms and technical terms mentioned in the abstract, in line with the format used for NDWI. Lines 26-27.

Add study area name in keywords

We appreciate the reviewer’s suggestion. We have added the name of the study area, “Le Soglitelle”, to the list of keywords.

Authors may need to add a few sentences after purposes to focus on the target of the purpose

Thank you for the helpful observation. We have clarified the purpose section by explicitly stating the research objectives. Lines 98-104.

Authors need to motivate the times' series of field assessment;

We thank the reviewer for pointing this out. We have clarified the rationale behind the temporal sampling design by highlighting its relevance in capturing seasonal variability, which is a defining characteristic of Mediterranean wetlands. Lines 149-153.

Results and discussion should be separate in two different sections.

Thank you for your advice. We have split the results and discussion section into two different sections accordingly.

 

 

 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Mediterranean saline wetlands are unique ecotonal zones that exhibit both freshwater and marine ecological characteristics, holding significant ecological and economic value. However, these wetlands are highly vulnerable to climate change and human activities, making their sustainable management dependent on the integration of multidisciplinary approaches. This study focuses on the artificial wetland "Le Soglitelle" in the Campania Plain of Italy. By combining remote sensing data (NDWI), hydrochemical analysis, geostatistical tools (PCA, ICA), and ecological indicators (wading bird monitoring), we comprehensively investigate the hydrological, hydrochemical, and ecological dynamics of the wetland, providing a scientific basis for its conservation and management. Overall, this is an interesting work, and I recommend the publication of the work after minor revision.

Minor comments:

1. Line 40: The entire introduction is written as a single paragraph. It is recommended to divide it into logical paragraphs according to the content for improved readability.
2. Line 89: This subsection also consists of only one paragraph. Consider breaking it into multiple paragraphs to enhance clarity and structure.
3. Line 124: Could the authors classify these observations and mark the observation stations in Figure 1 accordingly?
4. Line 145: What is the spatial resolution of this dataset?
5. Equation 2: The result should be expressed as 100%.
6. Equation 3: Are river discharge and seawater intrusion not significant factors in this context?

 

Author Response

Reviewer 2

Mediterranean saline wetlands are unique ecotonal zones that exhibit both freshwater and marine ecological characteristics, holding significant ecological and economic value. However, these wetlands are highly vulnerable to climate change and human activities, making their sustainable management dependent on the integration of multidisciplinary approaches. This study focuses on the artificial wetland "Le Soglitelle" in the Campania Plain of Italy. By combining remote sensing data (NDWI), hydrochemical analysis, geostatistical tools (PCA, ICA), and ecological indicators (wading bird monitoring), we comprehensively investigate the hydrological, hydrochemical, and ecological dynamics of the wetland, providing a scientific basis for its conservation and management. Overall, this is an interesting work, and I recommend the publication of the work after minor revision.

We sincerely thank the Reviewer for the positive remarks.

 

Minor comments:

 

Line 40: The entire introduction is written as a single paragraph. It is recommended to divide it into logical paragraphs according to the content for improved readability.

Thank you for your suggestion. The introduction has been reorganized into multiple paragraphs accordingly.

Line 89: This subsection also consists of only one paragraph. Consider breaking it into multiple paragraphs to enhance clarity and structure.

Thank you for this helpful observation. The subsection describing the study area has been split into multiple paragraphs accordingly.

Line 124: Could the authors classify these observations and mark the observation stations in Figure 1 accordingly?

Thank you for pointing it out. We have added in supplementary information 4 maps (Fig. 1s; 2s; 3s; 4s) indicating the observation points of each sampling campaign.

Line 145: What is the spatial resolution of this dataset?

Thank you for pointing this out. We have specified in the manuscript that the NDWI dataset derived from Sentinel-2 has a spatial resolution of 10 meters, which allows for detailed monitoring of water surface dynamics within small wetland systems such as “Le Soglitelle”. Lines 176-178.

Equation 2: The result should be expressed as 100%.

Thank you for your advice. Now figure 2b y-axis is expressed in 100%.

Equation 3: Are river discharge and seawater intrusion not significant factors in this context?

We thank the reviewer for this question. However, we would like to clarify that Equation 3 is used specifically for calculating the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), which is based solely on climatic variables. As defined in Beguería et al. (2013), the SPEI is a climatic drought index that does not incorporate hydrological or anthropogenic components such as river discharge, groundwater extraction, or seawater intrusion. Therefore, while these latter processes may influence the overall hydrology of the wetland, they are not part of the SPEI computation framework. To avoid misunderstanding, we have added a clarifying sentence to the manuscript. Lines 197-200.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors conducted a man-made saltwater wetland survey, which in essence is not really a remote sensing type of article.  I have some questions for this paper

1 What is a man-made groundwater dependent ecosystem (GDE) , are salinized wetlands typical GDE?

2 This paper only analyzes many indicators using methods such as PCA and ICA in order to realize the monitoring of the environment, and the innovativeness is not reflected in the abstract and citation part, how to use remote sensing technology and the deep integration of these field observation data may provide a good practical solution for the monitoring of wetland environments, but there is no obvious innovation at present.

3 If we look at the innovation of remote sensing technology, the authors used the traditional thresholding method of NDWI for watershed extraction, which is reliable to some extent. However, it is not innovative enough and also very easy to be confused with and other areas, resulting in lower accuracy and affecting the analysis results

4 The spatial pattern of water resources changes has not been demonstrated.

5 The figure title suggests adding a comprehensive title, such as Figure 2

Author Response

Reviewer 3

The authors conducted a man-made saltwater wetland survey, which in essence is not really a remote sensing type of article.  I have some questions for this paper

 

1 What is a man-made groundwater dependent ecosystem (GDE) , are salinized wetlands typical GDE?

We thank the reviewer for this important point. A groundwater-dependent ecosystem (GDE) is an hydroecological system that relies on groundwater for its hydrological or ecological integrity. In our study, the wetland is classified as a man-made GDE because it is artificially sustained by artesian wells that provide continuous input of groundwater with high salinity. While not all saline wetlands are GDEs, in this case, the salinity is directly linked to the groundwater source, making this wetland both salinized and groundwater-dependent. A clarifying sentence has been added in the Study Area section to better explain this concept. Lines 123-127

 

2 This paper only analyzes many indicators using methods such as PCA and ICA in order to realize the monitoring of the environment, and the innovativeness is not reflected in the abstract and citation part, how to use remote sensing technology and the deep integration of these field observation data may provide a good practical solution for the monitoring of wetland environments, but there is no obvious innovation at present.

We appreciate the reviewer’s critique regarding the use of NDWI thresholding, which is indeed a conventional technique. However, the strength and novelty of our work lie not in the use of NDWI alone, but in the interdisciplinary integration of satellite-based water surface monitoring, seasonal hydrochemical field data, multivariate geostatistics (PCA and ICA), and avifaunal ecological indicators within a single convergent framework. This holistic methodology enables a more comprehensive understanding of the ecohydrological dynamics of saline wetlands and provides practical tools for management and conservation. To better reflect this contribution, we have reinforced the Abstract and the Discussion sections by explicitly addressing the innovativeness of such framework for wetland monitoring. Lines 39-42 and 540-549

 

3 If we look at the innovation of remote sensing technology, the authors used the traditional thresholding method of NDWI for watershed extraction, which is reliable to some extent. However, it is not innovative enough and also very easy to be confused with and other areas, resulting in lower accuracy and affecting the analysis results

We thank the reviewer for raising this concern. While NDWI thresholding is indeed a standard approach, its application in this study was optimized by calibrating the threshold based on in situ observations of pond inundation states over a multi-year period. This ensures that the NDWI-derived inundation area closely reflects actual field conditions. Nevertheless, we acknowledge this limitation and have addressed it explicitly in the Discussion as a potential source of uncertainty. Lines 549-554

 

4 The spatial pattern of water resources changes has not been demonstrated.

Thank you for pointing it out. We have added to the figure 2 a bar graph with the average water coverage of each pond for the winter and the summer period and we have added a sentence regarding that in the results section. Lines 279-282

 

5 The figure title suggests adding a comprehensive title, such as Figure 2

Thank you for your advice. We have improved the captions of all the figures consistently with the caption of figure 2.

 

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The author has solved my problem