USING LANDSAT-7 & MODIS DATA FOR MEASURING SUSPENDED SEDIMENT IN LAKE ERIE

Remote sensing techniques for quantifying suspended sediment concentration using Landsat-7 level 1T imagery were developed. Landsat-7 imagery were atmospherically corrected using atmospheric data products derived from the MODIS Terra satellite to result in surface reflectance data. A regression model was developed to quantify the suspended sediment concentration (and turbidity) measured at a sampling station with the corrected Landsat-7 ETM+ data. Results show that a strong log-linear relationship exists between the suspended sediment concentration (and turbidity) and the visible green band (ETM+ band 2) and the near infrared band (ETM+ band 4). The MODIS Terra atmospheric data products allowed for a more accurate correction of Landsat-7 imagery for application to water quality studies.