Spatial Differentiation Analysis of Water Quality in Dianchi Lake Based on GF-5 NDVI Characteristic Optimization

Remote sensing monitoring of aquatic vegetation is critical to the water quality evaluation of plateau lakes. To obtain a clear understanding of the water environment status of Dianchi Lake, a GF-5 hyperspectral characteristics-based optimal NDVI approach was employed to quantify the aquatic vegetation cover and analyze water quality. By characteristic bands recognition, the optimal NDVI was obtained; the spatial distribution of aquatic plants and water quality in Dianchi Lake were then analyzed. Results showed the following: (1) For Caohai, the optimal NDVI value was calculated by B86 in the red band range and B151 in the near-infrared band range, which achieve the best spectral response. For Waihai, the respective bands were B86 in the red band range and B99 in the near-infrared band range. (2) We also found significant regional differences in aquatic plants distribution for the study area. Caohai was dominated by aquatic plants and high-quality water areas only occurred in the northern tip. While the situation for Waihai was much optimistic, areas with poor water quality were mainly found in the north and south parts. Water quality also showed a descending trend from the lakeside zone to the lake center. (3) By comparing to previous studies, we concluded that policy interventions and water protection measures carried out by the government during the past years are extremely effective. The optimal NDVI method provides a reliable evaluation and is potentially transferable to other plateau lake areas as a robust approach for the rapid assessment of water quality.