Hyperspectral characterization of wastewater in the Tijuana River Estuary using laboratory, field, and EMIT satellite spectroscopy

Scrivner, Eva; Mladenov, Natalie; Biggs, Trent; Grant, Alexandra; Piazza, Elise; Garcia, Stephany; Lee, Christine M.; Ade, Christiana; Tufillaro, Nick; Grötsch, Philipp; Zurita, Omar; Holt, Benjamin; Sousa, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179598

i

Hyperspectral characterization of wastewater in the Tijuana River Estuary using laboratory, field, and EMIT satellite spectroscopy

Supporting Files

2025
By Scrivner, Eva ; Mladenov, Natalie ; Biggs, Trent ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Science of the Total Environment
Personal Author:

Scrivner, Eva ; Mladenov, Natalie ; Biggs, Trent ; Grant, Alexandra ; Piazza, Elise ; Garcia, Stephany ; Lee, Christine M. ; Ade, Christiana ; Tufillaro, Nick ; Grötsch, Philipp ; Zurita, Omar ; Holt, Benjamin ; Sousa, Daniel
NOAA Program & Office:

CESSRST (Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies)
Description:

Hundreds of millions of liters of untreated wastewater are discharged into the Tijuana River annually, impacting communities on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Current monitoring methods are resource-intensive and limited in coverage. Optical satellite imaging may enable broader spatiotemporal monitoring, yet retrievals of bacterial concentrations and other key water quality indicators remain challenging. Here we investigate the utility of spectroscopic sensors to monitor the presence of wastewater in this estuarine-coastal system, as a proxy for bacterial concentrations and other water quality parameters. We prepared dilutions of untreated wastewater and uncontaminated seawater, measuring visible through shortwave infrared (VSWIR; 350–2500 nm) reflectance spectra of each sample. At high wastewater concentrations, a distinct spectral feature centered near 620 nm strongly correlated with paired water quality measurements (R2 ≥ 0.97, p-value < 0.01). This feature is additionally observed in multispectral resolution, in field observations, and in hyperspectral satellite imagery. An example application of plume mapping with this feature is presented, representing one of the earliest adoptions of EMIT hyperspectral satellite imagery for water quality monitoring. These results are promising for the use of spectroscopic sensors to map and monitor wastewater pollution in the Tijuana River Estuary and potentially, similarly polluted coastal and estuarine systems.
Keywords:

Reflectance Spectroscopy Sewage Water Quality Reflectance Spectroscopy Water Quality Bacterial Contamination Coastal And Inland Waters EMIT Wastewater
Source:

Science of the Total Environment 981 (2025) 179598
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179598
Format:

PDF
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant No. NA22SEC4810016
Place as Subject:

Tijuana River Estuary (Calif.) ; Tijuana River (Mexico and Calif.)
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:3dd70c90fb58c060f497649d6f4d025bd9939ebc5724232e31ab33180ee731d539b17a06ac3831a7b18293ca27153749ceafca63f57a273e3c99cd4c154464f0
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/72888/noaa_72888_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 3.22 MB ]

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