Spaceborne and airborne sensors in water quality assessment

Remotely sensed data can increase the ability of water resources researchers and decision-makers to monitor waterbodies more effectively. In recent decades, remote-sensing techniques have been widely used to measure the qualitative parameters of waterbodies (i.e. suspended sediments, coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM), chlorophyll-a, and pollutants). A large number of different sensors on board various satellites and other platforms, such as aeroplanes, are currently used to measure the amount of radiation at various wavelengths reflected from the water's surface. In this review article, the more commonly employed spaceborne and airborne sensors used in water quality investigations are introduced and their utility in the quantitative assessment of the quality parameters of waterbodies is discussed. Various properties (spectral, spatial and temporal, etc.) of spaceborne and airborne sensors are tabulated to be used as a sensor selection guide. These tables are helpful when designing water quality assessment studies, and can be used for the selection of appropriate sensors among many other available sensors in the market. Finally, based on the literature survey, a compilation of sensors used to measure various water quality parameters is presented.