Retrieval of suspended sediment concentration of the Chilika Lake, India using Landsat-8 OLI satellite data

To monitor sediment variations in the Chilika Lake, the Landsat-8 OLI data was used to calibrate suspended sediment concentration (SSC) model. The relationship between remote sensing reflectance of OLI bands and in-situ measured SSC were used to develop new site-specific algorithms. Four different models were calibrated in this study for retrieval of SSC using in-situ observation and remote sensing reflectance of OLI data. The multiband linear regression model provided better result (R-2=0.6) as compared to the single-band regression model (R-2=0.45, polynomial; R-2=0.38, exponential and R-2=0.39, linear). The Landsat-8 OLI image shows spatiotemporal variations of SSC during pre and post-monsoon season (2013-15) in the lake. It is observed that the SSC variation is predominantly influenced by three factors: monsoon effect, wind-induced re-suspension of bottom sediments and influx of river water into the lake. It is also observed that due to the impact of severe tropical cyclone Phailin, there was a rapid increase of SSC in the lake.