Phytoplankton Species in Linkage to Water Quality and Landsat Data Indices at the Southern Part of Burullus Lake, Egypt

In aquatic ecosystems, phytoplankton assemblages are mostly affected by different water quality parameters. In March 2020, water and phytoplankton samples were collected from seven geo-referenced stations distributed along the southern part of Lake Burullus, in front of drains. Physio-chemical parameters (temperature T°C, pH, dissolved oxygen DO, Salinity, nitrite NO2 , phosphate PO4 , ammonia NH4 , and silicates SiO4 ) were analyzed in water samples. Phytoplankton samples were collected using a net mesh of a size of 20 µm. The most abundant classes are Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, and Euglenophyceae in stations 7, 2, and 6, respectively. The difference between classes and species is based on the different discharge of wastes, the high load of organic matter, and salinity. Results of the average water quality index AWQI showed low water quality in front of drainage waters. The vegetative cover increases on the eastern side. Landsat images were acquired, treated, and processed for concluding three important indices along with the three sectors of the lake. These indices are normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI), and phytoplankton turbidity index (PTI). The NDVI showed that the vegetation-covered areas of about 11.3, 2.6, and 1.36 km2 , and NDWI showed water areas of about 105.09, 153.25, and 43.57 km2 for eastern, middle, and western parts, respectively. PTI indicated that nearly 55.3% of phytoplankton turbidities concentrated towards the western side of the lake, followed by 44.21% at the middle part and 25.14 % on the eastern side. It is concluded that water quality nearby drains are bad, where the phytoplankton turbidities as observed from Landsat images were increased towards the southwestern parts.