ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Assessing Spectral Indices for Detecting Vegetative
Overgrowth of Reservoirs
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Institute of Land Improvement, Environmental Development and Geodesy, Faculty of Environmental Engineering
and Spatial Management, Poznań Univeristy of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland
Submission date: 2018-07-25
Final revision date: 2018-09-29
Acceptance date: 2018-10-16
Online publication date: 2019-08-02
Publication date: 2019-09-17
Corresponding author
Joanna Jaskuła
Poznań University of Life Sciences, ul Piątkowska 94, 60-649 Poznań, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2019;28(6):4199-4211
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ABSTRACT
The main problem related to exploitation of reservoirs is the overgrowth of aquatic vegetation,
which leads to the gradual disappearance of water bodies. Currently, satellite imagery data are an
advantageous source for monitoring aquatic vegetation. The main goal of this study was to assess
different spectral indices (ARVI, NDVI, NDCI, NDAVI, WAVI) for detection of the overgrowing
process in reservoirs. Three reservoirs located in the western part of Poland were selected for analysis:
Przebędowo, Jeżewo and Jezioro Kowalskie. The analysis was carried out on the basis of Sentinel-2
satellite imagery. All calculations were performed in ArcGIS 10.5 and Quantum GIS software.
Results obtained for each of the spectral indices were verified on the basis of high-resolution color
orthophotomaps. The results show that selected indices detect different overgrowth areas. The WAVI
index shows the strongest agreement with reference data. The agreement between reference data for each
pixel was calculated on the basis of the Kappa coefficient. Regardless of analyzed reservoir, the WAVI
index has the highest value of the Kappa coefficient. Additionally, the analysis suggests that Sentinel-2
data can be used to identify emergent plant areas for reservoirs characterized by elongation ratio, width
and inundation area. The highest uncertainty of results is shown by emergent plants characterized by
small, dispersed areas and located near the banks of the water bodies.