Applications of NASA Earth Observations to Monitor Water Quality in the Indigenous Communities of Madre De Dios, Peru
Abstract
This project serves to promote knowledge and awareness of current water quality in indigenous communities in the Madre de Dios region in Peru. Illicit activities in the Madre de Dios such as mining and deforestation negatively impact water quality by increasing the amount of sediment in waterways and introducing mercury. Indigenous communities along the Madre de Dios River rely on water within this region for food, hydration, cleaning, bathing, etc. Remote sensing can act as a modern bridge for the gap between traditional methods of calculating this area's water quality. Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) surface reflectance data from 2014 to 2019 are used to identify waterways and monitor annual changes in the Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI), a proxy for relative water quality. In addition, an interactive and easy to use web-based app was developed in Google Earth Engine (GEE) that will allow indigenous communities and intertribal organizations to monitor annual changes in NDTI. "Bich'ą'ą'h Tónaaghá"- Protect the water. Every living creature needs this vital resource. This app will help indigenous communities to monitor their natural resources, including the effects that activities such as mining might leave behind. It is the hope of this project that indigenous communities and intertribal organizations will be able to use this tool to strengthen legal protection of their natural resources.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMGC43L1436C
- Keywords:
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- 1632 Land cover change;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1640 Remote sensing;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 4323 Human impact;
- NATURAL HAZARDS