USU uses satellite to detect water pollution
Utah State University professors are using a satellite to map urban areas and the impact they have on water quality.
Increased urbanization can cause water quality problems, because artificial surfaces such as asphalt are causing water pollution, USU professor Robert Gillies said.
These surfaces aren’t letting rain water flow properly, said Nancy Mesner, a USU professor and water quality expert.
An experiment has been conducted, with graduate student Penny Arentsen comparing water from high- and low-density urban areas while Gillies and Mesner evaluated the data. Arentsen said she collected water from five storm events and sampled it for various pollutants.
Experiments have been conducted in eastern watersheds, but this is the first time they have been performed in a semiarid region like Utah, Arentsen said.
Satellites are used to show where the artificial surfaces are located and the water testing shows how the surfaces are affecting water quality in that particular area, Gillies said.
Arentsen said satellites cover large spatial and temporal spans. Using remote sensing data makes experimenting less expensive to acquire information.
The satellite takes an image every 16 days. If the photography were done by plane, a pilot would have to be paid each time to go up and photograph the land. The cost and technology of satellite imagery are much better, Arentsen said.
“We’re finding we have good correlation for sampling sites and water quality data,” Arentsen said.
Gillies said the canal system Logan has is very helpful for the studies.
Mesner said, “As you urbanize a watershed, streams and lakes are affected. Water runs off instead of soaking in [the ground].”
Water that flows unnaturally and is grouped together doesn’t replenish the ground.
For example, Mesner said, many times when water is used to wash a car in a driveway, pollutants can be carried in the gutters and brought to other water sources.
Gillies said businesses also cause concern for water pollution, but recent legislation has helped to require businesses to take better care of their used water.
“Anything washed into water is a potential pollutant,” Mesner said.
The effects urbanization has on water quality is what Mesner said strikes her interest.
Gillies said, “Future developers can understand the importance of landscape management knowing that satellite maps are available.”
Arentsen said, “The local urban planners could potentially use this information as a tool for development both present and in the future.”
She said it’s probably not as good as collecting the data, but it’s accurate enough for planners to use. Rather than measuring variables, planners can just have one variable and calculate surface areas, Arentsen said.
Mesner said water soaking in the ground maintains summer flows of water and if the water isn’t soaking, bad floods may occur. Water quality and pollution are also tied to surface area, Mesner said.
The water in Cache County is still in pretty good shape, Mesner said, and she is concerned most about fish and wildlife.
Arentsen said water quality affects aquatic life, recreational activities and potential drinking water.
“We need to protect our waterbodies,” Arentsen said.
Gillies said, “The important thing is for the future, if students are aware they can help.”
-amysueh@cc.usu.edu