Sentinel-2 images for the monitoring of dissolved contaminants on
Sicily's South-east coast
Abstract
Coastal environment pollution is one of major challenge facing coastal
area development. A large number of Sicilian population lives in low
laying area where, among other economy activities, tourist and intensive
agriculture are two of most important sources of revenue. However, its
beaches are threatened by natural and anthropic phenomena ranging from
sea level rise, coastal erosion to marine pollution. In efforts to
manage the influx of harmful substances reaching Sicily’s south-east
coast, we present methodological approach integrating land
use\land cover and normalized difference suspended
sediment index mapping techniques to identify the origin of dissolved
sediments observed in coastal water especial during rainy season. In
this paper we used 12 freely-available Copernicus sentinel-2 images
acquired during 2018. Water color analysis on satellite images shows
that the contaminants reach the sea through river runoff and when
arrived in relatively calm water in particularly in pocket beaches they
stay in near shoreline for a while however they can also be exported
further offshore when they reach the sea in high dynamic water where
currents and waves play a role in their distribution. These sediments
are sometimes erosion products from agricultural fields or contaminated
soils containing organic or chemical fertilizers used for crop
protection or for vegetation growth. The monitoring of sediments can
help characterize and determine the fate of these products for a better
management of this coastal area.