Monitoring Water Pollution of Lake Maryout on the Mediterranean Coast of Egypt

Abstract

The present study assessed serious eutrophication and pollution levels in Lake Mayout, Egypt. Chlorophyll spatial distribution and corresponding water surface temperatures in polluted water were extracted from 1986-2012 satellite images. Results showed a significant positive correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.99) between thermal water and chlorophyll abundance. Five classes were differentiated, including cultivated land, algal blooms, urban areas, and sea water from the two dimensional scatterplot between chlorophyll abundance and surface temperatures. Markedly high temperatures and very high NDVI values characterized cultivated land, while clean water exhibited low temperatures, and low NDVI. High surface temperatures and low NDVI were observed in planned urban areas. Finally, high surface temperatures and NDVI values characterized algal bloom polluted waters. Results showed surface areas exhibiting algal bloom were 29.2 km 2 and water surface temperatures were 22ᵒC in 1986, and respectively increased to 32.5 km2 and 24ᵒC in 2012.