I-Corps: Automated water quality monitoring system using satellite data for measurements of water resource characteristics

I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响和商业潜力是为政府和企业开发一个在线服务来测量和报告湖泊水质。利用利用提供免费数据的卫星进行地球观测的持续投资、云计算等技术进步和复杂算法的开发，有可能自动确定世界上每一个水体的水质。今天，监测湖泊和实地测量的方法和技术很少，只有一小部分湖泊得到定期监测。管制和政策实体可以定期监测每一个湖泊和水库的水质，并具有近乎实时的测量能力，以便制定政策和更好地将有限的资源用于最需要的地方。其结果将是为其选民更好地管理一种关键的环境资源。度假地产公司和房地产经纪公司等商业实体在租赁、购买或出售房产时，将能够通过向消费者报告湖泊的质量，从而更好地提供价值。湖泊水管理公司将能够持续监测水质，以便在需要时进行目标处理。I-Corps项目基于一种软件技术，该技术将所有可用的Landsat 8和Sentinel 2图像中的遥感卫星数据处理成水质产品。卫星技术（改进了光谱、空间、辐射和时间分辨率）和大气校正的最新进展，以及云和超级计算能力，使利用卫星数据自动进行水资源特征的区域尺度测量成为可能。开发了现场验证的方法，并在超级计算机上的自动水质监测系统中实施。该系统获取卫星图像，去除云层、云层阴影、雾霾、烟雾和陆地，并应用水质模型来提供卫星衍生的水质产品。利用这些方法，每个清晰图像出现的月开放水域像素水平拼接和湖泊水平数据创建了一个原型数据库。湖泊水位（2017-2020）数据包括603,678个叶绿素，清晰度和颜色的每日湖泊测量（总共1,811,034个），这些数据被编译成一个数据库，用于计算不同时间框架（例如，每月，夏季（6 - 9月））的水质变量，并与用于地理空间分析的湖泊多边形层相关联，并包含在网络地图界面中。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an online service to measure and report on lake water quality for government and business. Leveraging the ongoing investments for earth observation using satellites that provide free data, technology advancements like cloud computing and development of sophisticated algorithms, it is possible to automate the determination of water quality for every body of water in the world. Today, the methods and technology for monitoring lakes and field measurements are sparse with only on a small subset of lakes being monitored on a regular basis. Regulatory and policy entities could monitor water quality for every lake and reservoir on a regular basis with the capability of near real-time measurements to set policy and to better direct limited resources where they are needed most. The outcomes will be better management of a critical environmental resource for their constituents. Commercial entities such as vacation property businesses and real-estate brokerages will be able to better deliver value by reporting to consumers about the quality of lakes when renting, buying or selling properties. Lake water management companies would be able to continuously monitor the water quality to target treatment if needed. This I-Corps project is based on a software technology that processes remotely sensed satellite data into water quality products from all available Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 imagery. Recent advances in satellite technology (improved spectral, spatial, radiometric and temporal resolution) and atmospheric correction, along with cloud and supercomputing capabilities have enabled the use of satellite data for automated regional scale measurements of water resource characteristics. Field-validated methods were developed and implemented in an automated water quality monitoring system on supercomputers. The system acquires satellite imagery, removes clouds, cloud shadows, haze, smoke, and land, and applies water quality models to deliver satellite-derived water quality products. Using these methods, a prototype database was created with monthly open water pixel level mosaics and lake level data for each clear image occurrence. The lake level (2017-2020) data includes 603,678 daily lake measurements of chlorophyll, clarity, and color (1,811,034 total) that were compiled into a database that was used to calculate water quality variables for different timeframes (e.g., monthly, summer (June-Sept)) and linked to a lake polygon layer that was used for geospatial analysis and included in a web map interface.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.