Spatiotemporal Evaluation of Eutrophication State in The Hammar Marsh Using A Satellite-Based Model

Water pollution is now a major threat to the existence of living beings. Accordingly, Water quality monitoring is an important activity toward restoring water quality. As wetland eutrophication is one of the essential ecosystem elements, devastation of this element is a significant issue. The Trophic State Index (TSI) provides information about trophic condition of water bodies. This paper aims to conduct spatiotemporal monitoring for the eutrophication of the west part of Al-Hammar Marsh for the period 2013-2020. To this end, a satellite-based TSI computation model was developed and implemented by using a series of OLI Landsat satellite images. The results showed that there was no improvement in the eutrophication state in the marsh, the percentage of the low class of TSI decreased in 2015 and 2018 to 7.9% and 2.6% and increased in 2017 and 2020 to 39.8%, and 56.3%. In general, the TSI was in the poor class in all the considered periods. Fluctuation of quantity and quality of the inflow prevents restoring the eutrophication of the marsh because this process requires stability in the levels of inundation above the critical limits for the water depth and periods. Therefore, it is necessary to find suitable alternatives to provide water drainage in quantities and quality that ensure the sustainability of the marsh ecosystem.