Student information

MSc thesis topic: Exploring the impact of land-use dynamics and eutrophication on aquatic vegetation in Lake Tana and Abaya-Chamo lake basins: a three-decade study.

One of the consequences of unsustainable land-use practices and transitions is disturbance of water bodies. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an invasive aquatic species (IAS) that has spread worldwide. Among the numerous IAS, that have emerged as a consequence of unsustainable land-use practices, water hyacinth stands out for its ubiquitous spread across the globe. A few studies have suggested that the growth and distribution of invasive aquatic vegetation are favoured by eutrophication, which results from nutrient loads from adjacent terrestrial areas. Excessive nutrient loads on water bodies, such as Phosphorus and Nitrogen from agricultural lands, industries, and domestic uses, contribute to eutrophication. This research, in addition to exploring the change in the distribution of water hyacinths, will investigate how land-use change has influenced lake eutrophication and the distribution of water hyacinths.

This thesis addresses the distribution and dynamics of aquatic vegetation over time and how land-use change drivers and the dynamics of eutrophication relate to it in Lake Tana and Abaya-Chamo lake basins in Ethiopia. As the research aims to explore the influence of land-use dynamics and the impact of nutrient release and eutrophication on the growth and distribution of aquatic vegetation, it investigates the changes in the lake water body. The study will utilize long-term satellite image data. Supervised machine-learning methods are regarded as the best tools for detecting different types of aquatic vegetation. It also has been used in water hyacinth detection and is reported to be the best tool. Therefore, this research will utilize the most valuable machine-learning method (SVM/RF/CNN) for water hyacinth detection. The thesis will also assess whether there has been an impact on the lake due to a change or shift in stakeholder practices over the past three decades. Thus, existing lake water quality and eutrophication data will be collected from respective organizations to identify which parts of the lake are affected and why. In addition, local farmers and stakeholders who have first-hand knowledge of community practices in the upper, middle, and lower streams of major watersheds will be engaged in the assessment.

Objective

  • Analyse the spatio-temporal dynamics of invasive aquatic plants and eutrophication in the lake basin over time and how do land-use changes relate to it

Research questions

  • What were the spatio-temporal dynamics of invasive aquatic plants and eutrophication in the lake basins over time?
  • How specific changes in land-use (e.g., deforestation, agriculture) have affected the distribution and growth of aquatic vegetation?

Requirements

  • Advanced Earth Observation
  • Deep learning
  • Geo-scripting

Literature and information

  • Rodriguez-Garlito, E.C., A. Paz-Gallardo, and A. Plaza, Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Invasive Aquatic Plants in the Guadiana River, Spain. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2023. 16: p. 228-241.
  • Rodriguez-Garlito, E.C., A. Paz-Gallardo, and A. Plaza, Automatic Detection of Aquatic Weeds: A Case Study in the Guadiana River, Spain. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2022. 15: p. 8567-8585.
  • Singh, G., et al., A Remote Sensing Method to Monitor Water, Aquatic Vegetation, and Invasive Water Hyacinth at National Extents. Remote Sensing, 2020. 12(24).

Theme(s): Sensing & measuring, Integrated Land Monitoring