Remote Sensing based Water Quality Analysis of Vembanad Lake using Landsat 8 OLI images and Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) Method

Abstract

Vembanad Lake is a Ramsar site in Kerala, India, that stretches for approximately 80 kilometers and covers an area of 200 kilometers squared. It is located in the districts of Alleppey, Kottayam, and Eranakulam. Because it provides water to nearly 55,000 hectares of agricultural land, it is necessary to assess the water quality in this lake. Water quality can be determined by measuring pH, turbidity, BOD, TDS, and TSS, among others. Landsat 8 OLI images have been obtained, and the water quality has been assessed. The spectral reflectance values of these parameters were used to create a linear regression model, which was then used to analyze the data. The study identified the areas of the lake that are more contaminated than others, and it made recommendations for remediation. The findings of this study and the resulting analysis will be useful in putting in place measures to improve water quality and manage waste inflow into the lake.