NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET) has opened a new open, online webinar series: Monitoring Water Quality of Inland Lakes using Remote Sensing. This advanced-level training will focus on using remote sensing observations from Landsat 8 and 9, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-3 for assessing water quality parameters, including chlorophyll-a concentration, turbidity, and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) in inland lakes. This training will also highlight the importance of in situ measurements of these parameters, coincident with satellite observations, in developing methodologies for operational water quality monitoring.

This two-part, advanced webinar series is a follow-on to the training on coastal and estuarine water quality held in September 2021. It is a hands-on training with demos provided by instructors, followed by an hour of lab time for participants to use Level-1 MODIS and VIIRS data provided by the Ocean Biology DAAC (OB.DAAC) and SeaDAS and OCSSW software for deriving water quality parameters.

Natural lakes and man-made reservoirs are a part of Earth’s surface water. Freshwater lakes and reservoirs are used for drinking water, fishing, and recreational activities. Aside from the aesthetic and scenic value added by their presence, lakes support surrounding plant and aquatic ecosystems and wildlife.