Multisource and multiscale surface water quality monitoring: a case study for the Chalkidiki, Greece

This study addresses the monitoring of water quality in mining regions, focusing on arsenic (As) concentration as a critical parameter and total suspended solids (TSS) as its proxy. We investigate the integration of multi-source and multi-scale Earth Observation (EO) techniques by combining diverse spectral and spatial resolutions from several platforms: a small-scale OceanOptics STS-VIS spectroradiometer mounted on a DJI Phantom 3 UAV; a Parrot Sequoia 4-band multispectral camera deployed on a DJI Phantom 4 Pro UAV; and 8-band multispectral satellite imagery from Planet Labs with a spatial resolution of 3 meters. The spectral datasets were analyzed alongside in situ surface water samples collected during UAV-flight campaigns and from long-term monitoring conducted by Hellas Gold (HG). The findings highlight the potential of synergistic use of these datasets for improved water quality assessment in mining-impacted environments. Future research will focus on refining the temporal analysis and developing predictive models using the complete PlanetScope time series in combination with HG’s open-access long-term monitoring data.

Acknowledgments:

The presented analysis was conducted under the support of the EC grant MultiMiner. The MultiMiner project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation actions programme under Grant Agreement No. 10109137474.