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Salinity and Sediment Contaminants and the Reflectance & Green-up of Phragmites australis. Ildiko Pechmann & Francisco Artigas. New Jersey Meadowlands Commission – Meadowlands Research Institute. 9th Wetlands & Watersheds Workshop Atlantic City, NJ Oct. 23-26 2006. Project Overview.
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Salinity and Sediment Contaminants and the Reflectance & Green-upof Phragmites australis Ildiko Pechmann & Francisco Artigas New Jersey Meadowlands Commission – Meadowlands Research Institute 9th Wetlands & Watersheds Workshop Atlantic City, NJ Oct. 23-26 2006
Project Overview • Background: • Relationship between pigment concentration and light reflectance from leaves • Light reflectance from leaves is modulated by stressor factors
Hypothesis: • The light reflected from plants can be used as a surrogate variable to determine salinity and metal concentration in the sediments.
Objectives Overall: - Find if metal toxicity alters or modifies chlorophyll content in a way that plants under metal stress show differences in reflectance Specific: - Measure salinity and metals at seven distinct study sites - Measure metal uptake by leaves over the growing season - Measure light reflectance from leaves and canopies over the growing season - Find if there is a relationship between metal content in leaves and light reflectance
Field Work DA,DB Sampling (May 2 – July 20) • Leaf samples • Sediment samples • Leaf reflectance (field data) • Canopy reflectance (field data) BA,BB CT KP, KG
Parameters measured Test plant:Phragmites australis • Leaves: • metal concentration (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) • reflectance • Canopy: • reflectance • Sediment: • metal concentration (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) • Salinity [ppt]
Metal-metal relationship in the sediment Cr, Cd, Hg and Zn tend to coexist in the sediment
Calculating Toxic Units - Metal concentrations in sediment were transformed in toxic units (TU) according to the E-RM (Effect Range Median) values (Long&Morgan, 1990) - Toxicity ranged between 0 and 80 TU depending on how much the metal concentrations exceeded the E-RM criteria. - Summary of TUs were calculated for each sampling site and related to reflectance parameters
PeakFit v.4.12 Spectral data analysis Vegetation Indices -NDVI: ρNIR – ρRED ρNIR + ρRED • -Greenness Ratio: • ρGREEN • ρRED -Red Edge Inflection Point (REIP)
Conclusion • The most saline site – CT - showed a delayed green-up • The most contaminated sites – DA; DB - showed an early flowering • Our results indicated that there were no changes in the leaf reflectance due to the metal toxicity • However the canopy reflectance measurements showed relationship with sediment toxicity.
Future Research • Continue to use remote sensors to classify stress levels in Phragmites communities. • Focus on differences in light reflectance due to the plant architecture and canopy texture as they relate to bio-geological conditions in the sediment. • Also use remote sensors to look at phenology (i.e. flowering and green-up timing) to identify Phragmites stands under heavy metal stress
Acknowledgements • The Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute • Dr. Jin Young Shin • Yefim Levinsky • So Yeon
Acknowledgements • The Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute • Dr. Jin Young Shin • Yefim Levinsky • So Yeon