Final Report Executive Summary Project Title: Developing a protocol to use remote sensing as a cost effective tool to monitor contamination of mangrove wetlands Date: 30 April 2012 Project Number: R-21-1-06. Principle Investigators Johannes H. Schellekens, Ph.D. schellek@uprm.edu Fernando Gilbes-Santaella, Ph.D. fernando.gilbes@upr.edu Department of Geology University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681-9017 Dates covered: 22 May 2006 to 1 March 2008 and two extensions until April 2012
A. Executive Summary Summary of Impacts and Contributions 1. Objectives: To apply the remote sensing techniques of mineral exploration to the monitoring of mangrove wetlands for the presence of metal contamination. Similar as in mineral exploration, a cost effective technique that does not require costly field studies, will make an excellent tool for government agencies in charge of monitoring the health of wetlands and the possible contamination of mangrove forests. The research involved: a. The analyses of substrate and leaves in the top of the canopy of mangroves. The selection of a non-contaminated control area (e.g. Guanica, Punta Ballena, and compare the chemical results, the reflectance spectra of the leaves, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the pH of the seawater, with other possible contaminated sites. For the latter the following sites were selected Joyuda Lagoon with possible Ni, Co contamination next to a Ni-Co laterite, Arecibo Lagoon in the watershed of the porphyry copper deposits and with various industrial sites, and Guayanilla Bay with reported mercury contamination. b. Processing of AVIRIS and IKONOS images using differences in reflectance. c. Geographic Information System (GIS) database for use by agencies in charge of pollution control. Objectives #1 and #2 were fully developed after a large effort. The analyses of some of the heavy metals (e.g. As, Hg) needed chemicals that required an explosive license as ordered by Homeland Security. None of the PIs had this license and efforts to find such a person willing to help us were unsuccessful. Therefore, metals analyses were finally done at the private company Environmental Quality Laboratories, Inc. (EQ Lab). They performed all the requested chemical analyses during the second phase of the project in Guánica and Arecibo. A pilot project using AVIRIS imagery from near Punta Ballena did not provide the desired results, due to discrepancies between ground-truthing and the image data. Processing of IKONOS images was also challenging and differences in NDVI values were not clear between the non-contaminated and contaminated areas.
Final report Sea Grant R-21-1-06 Schellekens-Gilbes April 2012
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