ARSHUS (Airborne Remote Sensing of Hydrologic Systems Under Stress).

Paige Baldassaro, Institute for Scientific Research, Inc., Fairmont, WV, pbaldassaro@isr.us
John Spadaro, Institute for Scientific Research, Inc., Fairmont, WV, jspadaro@isr.us
Dorene Dixon, Institute for Scientific Research, Inc., Fairmont, WV, ddixon@isr.us
Joe Gardner, Institute for Scientific Research, Inc., Fairmont, WV, jgardner@isr.us

Water pollution affects plant and animal life and represents a significant health problem for the general population. Studies conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have found that water-quality levels in a large number of surface and ground water supplies may have contaminant levels that exceed current USEPA guidelines. The major culprits (nutrients, silt and heavy metals) primarily originate from nonpoint sources (NPS) and are usually associated with agriculture or urban/suburban development. Determining the origin of these pollutants and the impact of environmental factors on reducing or increasing their mobility into a water body is an extremely complex problem.
Watershed classification can greatly assist in identifying areas highly susceptible to the damaging effects of NPS pollutants, and land use classification provides a significant first step for isolating potential source areas; nevertheless, determination of the sources of the NPS pollution still remains difficult. There is a need for the assessment and source localization of NPS pollutants to obtain accurate estimates of pollutant influx into water bodies.
An active remote sensing application concept being used to study NPS pollution in the Potomac River Watershed is ARSHUS (Airborne Remote Sensing of Hydrologic Systems Under Stress). The specific aim is to use high-resolution passive and active optical sensors coupled with GIS/hydrologic models to 1) determine the impact of a given NPS pollutant on the surrounding environment and, 2) establish a localization algorithm using remote sensor data to identify sources of NPS pollution. Although the current study is concentrated in the Little Cacapon River basin, the concept could be extended to any watershed system.
Since the maturely dissected study area contains many heterogeneous geomorphic features, high-spatial resolution data is being obtained for input to the GIS and hydrologic models. The basic remote sensor data will be 2m-hyperspectral imagery and high resolution (<1m) LIDAR data. Ground-truth measurements, including laser-induced fluorescence data, will be combined with USGS weir data from hydrographic stations to help develop the hydrologic models and assist in simulating NPS pollution transport. The planning stages are nearing completion and data collection will begin this year.