Kentucky State University
Assessing Water Quality of the Kentucky River Watershed: A GIS-Based Approach
Institution
Kentucky State University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Buddhi Gyawali; Jeremy Sandifer
Abstract
The Kentucky River has played an important role in the lives, history and culture of many people for thousands of years, providing irrigation, potable water, fish stocks and transportation. The purpose of this study was to assess the overall water quality within the Kentucky River watershed and to determine the degree to which changes in areal land cover corresponded to changes in water quality indicators for the years 2001 to 2006. Various data was collected from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), assembled within a geographic information system (GIS), and summarized to describe the temporal variability of common water quality indicators including dissolved oxygen count, measure of suspended sediment, and water temperature for the years 2001 to 2006. In addition, we quantified the change in land cover distributions for the corresponding timeframe using multispectral land cover information derived using satellite remote sensing data from the MODIS and Landsat sensors. It was hypothesized that temporal variability in water quality would be significantly correlated with changes in land cover conditions. Preliminary results indicated significant temporal relationships between measures of water quality and changes in the physical condition of land cover as well as precipitation within the watershed basin, confirming the initial hypothesis statement. We concluded that changes in land cover conditions contributed to variability in measurements of water quality within the Kentucky River watershed basin.
Assessing Water Quality of the Kentucky River Watershed: A GIS-Based Approach
The Kentucky River has played an important role in the lives, history and culture of many people for thousands of years, providing irrigation, potable water, fish stocks and transportation. The purpose of this study was to assess the overall water quality within the Kentucky River watershed and to determine the degree to which changes in areal land cover corresponded to changes in water quality indicators for the years 2001 to 2006. Various data was collected from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), assembled within a geographic information system (GIS), and summarized to describe the temporal variability of common water quality indicators including dissolved oxygen count, measure of suspended sediment, and water temperature for the years 2001 to 2006. In addition, we quantified the change in land cover distributions for the corresponding timeframe using multispectral land cover information derived using satellite remote sensing data from the MODIS and Landsat sensors. It was hypothesized that temporal variability in water quality would be significantly correlated with changes in land cover conditions. Preliminary results indicated significant temporal relationships between measures of water quality and changes in the physical condition of land cover as well as precipitation within the watershed basin, confirming the initial hypothesis statement. We concluded that changes in land cover conditions contributed to variability in measurements of water quality within the Kentucky River watershed basin.