Improving Water Quality Management: Use of Earth Observations in SPARROW
Investigators:
Molly Macauley (PI, Resources for the Future),
Anne Nolin (Oregon State U.), Qingyuan Zhang (UMD/GEST), Richard Smith (USGS),
Jhih-Shyang Shih (Resources for the Future)
Consultants:
Mr. John Brakebill, Geographer, US Geological Survey
Ms. Anne Hoos, Hydrologist, US Geological Survey
Dr. Richard Moore, Hydrologist, US Geological Survey
Dr. Dale Robertson, Research Hydrologist, US Geological Survey
Collaborators:
Dr. Greg Schwarz, Economist, US Geological Survey
Mr. Richard Alexander, Research Hydrologist, US Geological Survey
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Abstract
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This research will use Earth observations data to improve the temporal accuracy and total cost-effectiveness
of a widely used tool for water quality management and policy.
The tool, SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed Attributes (SPARROW), is a watershed model
that plays a central role in the US Water Quality Assessment Program.
A national-scale model and two regional-scale SPARROW models are operating (New England and the
Chesapeake Bay Watersheds) and six regional models are under construction (Northeast Atlantic,
Southeast and Eastern Gulf, Lower Mississippi, Western Gulf, Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes,
Missouri, and Northwest Coastal). Federal and state officials use SPARROW results to characterize
water quality in watersheds, track the quantities of contaminants entering estuaries, and establish
the relative importance of different pollution sources.
This project will incorporate data products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
to enable SPARROW to produce assessments every season and annually, instead of every five years.
Given the rapidity with which water quality is changing -- for example, due to ethanol-based biofuels
production and other changes in land use -- improved temporal accuracy is critically important.
The project will also evaluate the enhanced SPARROW in supporting significantly more cost-effective
water management strategies.
The interdisciplinary project team involves Resources for the Future, Oregon State University, the
Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, and the US Geological Survey. Organizations endorsing
the project include the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, the Chesapeake Bay
Program, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and Michigan Sea Grant.
This research directly supports NASA Strategic Plan Subgoal 3A and the NASA Applied Sciences Program
objectives to address "improving water quality assessment capability at the federal, regional, state
and local levels such as the National Water Quality Assessment Program" and to apply Earth observations
to problems of biofuels and climate.
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NASA Products
MODIS
Project Partners
Agency names
Decision Support Tools
SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed Attributes (SPARROW)
Reports
