The importance of satellite-based measurements in hydrology (assessing water-cycle storages and fluxes) is well known. Advances in using satellite imagery to measure surface water quality are less widely appreciated. In this talk I will describe recent developments based on Landsat TM imagery, high-spatial-resolution IKONOS and Quickbird imagery, high-frequency MODIS imagery, and air-craft-mounted spectroradiometers to measure optically related water quality characteristics of lakes, rivers and wetlands in the Upper Midwest. For example, a protocol has been developed and is in operation to produce statewide censuses of lake clarity in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The potential and practical limitations to measuring chlorophyll, humic color, and turbidity from such imagery will be described. Techniques also are being developed to use satellite imagery to map and classify emergent and floating aquatic vegetation.

In the second part of the seminar I will describe the status of WATERS Network, a national-scale environmental observatory initiative being developed in NSF's Engineering and Geosciences Directorates. WATERS is a large, distributed infrastucture project intended to develop options to prevent and mitigate impacts of human activity on critical land and water resources and develop better adaptive management strategies for these systems.

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