Monitoring Anthropogenic Impact on Some Coastal Water Areas of the Black Sea Using Multispectral Satellite Imagery

The results of comprehensive monitoring of anthropogenic impact on some coastal water areas of the Black Sea are presented. Multispectral satellite imagery and sea truth hydrooptical and hydroacoustical data acquired aboard research vessels are used as the main information sources. In the course of monitoring, more than 300 multispectral Resurs-P, GeoEye, WorldView, Landsat, Sentinel-2 and other satellite images of water areas near the cities of Sevastopol and Gelendzhik were systematized and analyzed. For processing the multispectral satellite imagery, we use an approach based on the calculation and analysis of distributions of relative variability characteristics of the backscattering signal in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (“color indices”). The sea truth measurements, which were carried out using a SIPO9 light attenuation index spectral meter and an ADCP acoustic Doppler profilometer, allowed us to detect submerged pollutant plumes and validate the results of satellite data processing. By using the suggested methods, we found and quantified the characteristics of intensive anthropogenic impacts due to submerged outfalls in the coastal waters near Sevastopol and Gelendzhik. Processing the multispectral satellite imagery and sea-truth data revealed several disruptions in the outfall collectors located in these coastal waters.