Analysis of Thermal Pattern Variation for River Ganges with Satellite Imagery

Abstract

Stream temperature is a fundamental aspect of water quality and ecosystem health of the river affecting its physical, chemical and biological processes; so the monitoring and understanding of the thermal regime of rivers is extremely important. Water temperature affects water quality such as dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity and it also has influence on growth and extent of aquatic organisms. Remote sensing applications can be an effective alternative to the conventional methods for measuring the temperature of water bodies, as the satellite images have good spatial resolution, are temporal and can provide information on otherwise inaccessible locations. Satellite based Thermal Infrared Sensor 1 (TIRS1) sensing is usually applicable to large rivers. The Landsat-8 TIRS1 sensor were used to study spatial and temporal variations of surface water temperature. The period of the study is from 2013 to 2018. In this work, a study stretch of 210 kilometers (approximately) of river Ganga has been selected between Mirzapur and Ghazipur.

Keywords:  Ganga, Landsat 8, Remote Sensing, Surface Water Temperature