SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF WATER QUALITY

USING UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM (UAS):

A STUDY OF LAKE PALAKPAKIN, SAN PABLO, LAGUNA

Bongcac, Mary Julienne

2008-49135
Toledo, Mary Richabelle
2011-55333

Submitted to the Department of Geodetic Engineering

College of Engineering
University of the Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Science
In Geodetic Engineering

College of Engineering
University of the Philippines - Diliman
Quezon City

2016
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers humbly acknowledge all those who helped in the conduct of
this study, with special mention to:

God, who, first and foremost, made the finishing of this paper possible;

The parents of the researchers, who provided the financial and emotional
support during the entire conduct of the study;

Dr. Ariel Blanco and Engr. Ayin Tamondong, for the academic guidance,
support, and for the great endurance in waiting for the very late compliance of the
paper;

Engr. Julius Aves and Engr. Kristen Dela Cruz, who headed the UAV flights
for the aerial image acquisition;

Dr. Eugene C. Herrera, who open-handedly lent the Water Quality Meter;

Engr. John Bart Lovern Dumalag and Engr. Diane Arriane Villaflor, who
guided the students of the proper usage of the instruments;

Coastal Resources Assessment using LIDAR (CoastMap), Agricultural

Resources Assessment using LIDAR (PARMap), and Environmental Systems
Applications of Geomatics Engineering (EnviSAGE) for the research instruments;

Jaime Honrado and Edgar Ilaga for imparting their knowledge on aerial
mapping;

Mang Pando and family, who accommodated the researchers at the lake and
aided with the boat transport;

Friends and colleagues who, in one way or another, encouraged and inspired
the researchers throughout the conduct of the study.

The Researchers

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 ABSTRACT

Years of human neglect and poor fishing practices in Lake Palakpakin, San Pablo,
Laguna have paved the way for the deterioration of the lake’s water quality - resulting to
occasional occurrences of fish kill and massive algal presence. The study focused on the
assessment of the lake’s water quality using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). High
resolution aerial images of the lake were obtained using the eBee senseFly Professional
Mapping Drone. To assess the cholorophyll-a and turbidity content of the lake, twenty-two
in situ observation points were distributed in the vicinity of the lake using the Water Quality
Meter AAQ Rinko. A total of four flights were executed each with 75% lateral and 70%
longitudinal overlap at 10 centimeters/pixel output resolution. The flight data were
individually pre-processed, and the results merged using the Pix4Dmapper Pro, utilizing the
best images available for each image area. Pixel values were extracted from the output
orthomosaic and reflectance maps. Simple linear regression analyses of the mosaic bands
and band ratios as well as reflectance bands and band ratios were executed with respect to
the water quality parameters turbidity and chlorophyll-a. Reflectance band ratios yielded the
highest R2 values at 0.525 for Red/Blue and 0.54 for Red/Blue band ratios. Multiple linear
regression of turbidity with respect to the reflectance band ratios yielded the final equation
with R2 value at 0.626 The equation was used to produce the final turbidity map of the area.

KEY WORDS: Unmanned Aerial Systems, Water Quality

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ………………...………………………………………………..….......i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……..……………………………………...……………...ii
ABSTRACT……………………..…………………………………………………..iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………...iv
LIST OF FIGURES …………………..………………………………………..........vi
LIST OF TABLES ………………....……………………………………………...viii
Chapter 1…………………………………………………………. INTRODUCTION
…………………………………………………………………………………..……1
1.1. Background of Study………………………………………………….....1
1.2. Objectives of the Study…………………………………………………..3
1.3. Scope and Limitations of the Study……………………………………...3
1.4. Definition of Terms……………………………………………………...4
Chapter 2……………………………….… REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
………………………………………………………………………………………..5
2.1. Lake Palakpakin, San Pablo, Laguna……………………………………5
2.2. Water Quality…………………………………………………..………..5
2.2.1. Chlorophyll-a…………………………………………………..6
2.2.2. Turbidity……………………………………………………….6
2.3. Photogrammetry in the Geosciences…………………………………….7
2.4. Unmanned Aerial Systems for Water Quality Studies ………………..8
Chapter 3………………………………………………………….METHODOLOGY
…………………………………………………………………………………….….9
3.1. Research Design…………………………………………………..……..9
3.2. Materials Used…………………………………………………..……….9
3.2.1. eBee senseFly Professional Mapping Drone ……………..…9
3.2.2. Water Quality Meter AAQ Rinko…………………………....10
3.2.3. Garmin Hand-held Global Positioning System………………12
3.3. General Flowchart…………………………………………………..…12
3.4. Fieldwork Preparation………………………………………………….13
3.5. Flight Planning…………………………………………………..……..14
3.6. Collection of Flight Data ………………………………………………15

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 3.7. Water Quality Measurements…………………………………………..17
3.8. Processing of Individual Flights ………………………………………17
3.9. Merging of Flight Data…………………………………………………20
3.10. Tabulation and Mapping of Water Quality Data……………………...20
3.11. Extraction of Pixel Values…………………………………………….21
3.12. Regression Analysis…………………………………………………..21
3.13. Generation of Water Quality Map…………………………………….22
Chapter 4………………………………………….... RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
……………………………………………………………………………….……...23
Chapter 5………………………….CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
………………………………………………………………………………….…...47
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………..………………48
APPENDICES…………………………………………………..…………………..54
APPENDIX A. AAQ In Situ Observation Data…………………………….55
APPENDIX B. Raw Aerial Images: Flight 1……………………………….56
APPENDIX C. Raw Aerial Images: Flight 2……………………………….61
APPENDIX D. Raw Aerial Images: Flight 3……………………………….63
APPENDIX E. Raw Aerial Images: Flight 4……………………………….67
APPNDIX F. Field Survey Plan…………………………………………….70
APPENDIX G. Fieldwork Documentation…...…………………………….74

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 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

Figure 1. Topographic Map of San Pablo City, Laguna (NAMRIA, 1990)………….1

Figure 2. Satellite Image of Palakpakin Lake (Google Earth, 2015)………………...2
Figure 3. The eBee senseFly Professional Mapping Drone ………………..………9
Figure 4. Technical Specifications of the eBee senseFly Drone……………………10
Figure 5. The Water Quality Meter AAQ Rinko and attached accessories…………10
Figure 6. Specifications of the Water Quality Meter AAQ Rinko………………….11
Figure 7. The Garmin Hand-held GPS……………………………………………...12
Figure 8. Flowchart of the Research Process ………………………………………12
Figure 9. Mission Planning Using eMotion 2………………………………………14
Figure 10. Resulting Flight Characteristics…..……………………………………..15
Figure 11. Sample images obtained by the
eBee senseFly Professional Mapping Drone………………………. 16
Figure 12. The Survey Party………………………………………………………...16
Figure 13. The Water Quality Meter AAQ Rinko being prepared for the
measurement of water quality in Lake Palakpakin………………….17
Figure 14. Flight 1 Map View from Pix4Dmapper…………………………………18
Figure 15. Flight 2 Map View from Pix4Dmapper…………………………………18
Figure 16. Flight 3 Map View from Pix4Dmapper…………………………………19
Figure 17. Flight 4 Map View from Pix4Dmapper…………………………………19
Figure 18. Orthomosaic generated from flight 1 aerial photographs ………………23
Figure 19. Orthomosaic generated from flight 2 aerial photographs ………………24
Figure 20. Orthomosaic generated from flight 3 aerial photographs ………………24
Figure 21. Orthomosaic generated from flight 4 aerial photographs ………………25
Figure 22. In Situ Observation Points in Lake Palakpakin, San Pablo, Laguna……27
Figure 23. Map of Lake Palakpakin and Chlorphyll-a Values
of the In Situ Observation Points……………………………………27
Figure 24. Map of Lake Palakpakin and Turbidity Values
of the In Situ Observation Points……………………………………28
Figure 25. Raw Orthomosaic of Merged Flights 1-4………………………………..29
Figure 26. Output Reflectance Map from Pix4dMapper……………………………29

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Figure 27. Resultant Orthomosaic from the Mosaic Editor of Pix4dMapper………30
Figure 28. Band 1 of the Output Orthomosaic
Using the Mosaic Editor of Pix4Dmapper…….……………………31
Figure 29. Band 2 of the Output Orthomosaic
Using the Mosaic Editor of Pix4Dmapper…….……………………32
Figure 30. Band 3 of the Output Orthomosaic
Using the Mosaic Editor of Pix4Dmapper…….……………………32
Figure 31. Band 1/Band 2 of the Output Orthomosaic
Using the Mosaic Editor of Pix4Dmapper…………………….……33
Figure 32. Band 1/Band 3 of the Output Orthomosaic
Using the Mosaic Editor of Pix4Dmapper…………………….……33
Figure 33. Band 2/Band 3 of the Output Orthomosaic
Using the Mosaic Editor of Pix4Dmapper……………………….…34
Figure 34. Band 1 of the Output Reflectance Map………………………………….34
Figure 35. Band 2 of the Output Reflectance Map………………………………….35
Figure 36. Band 3 of the Output Reflectance Map………………………………….35
Figure 37. Band 1/Band 2 of the Output Reflectance Map…………………………36
Figure 38. Band 1/Band 3 of the Output Reflectance Map…………………………36
Figure 39. Band 2/Band 3 of the Output Reflectance Map…………………………37
Figure 40. Linear Regression of Chlorophyll-a versus Mosaic Bands…………...…38
Figure 41. Linear Regression of Turbidity versus Mosaic Bands………………......38
Figure 42. Linear Regression of Chlorophyll-a versus Mosaic Band Ratios…….....39
Figure 43. Linear Regression of Turbidity versus Mosaic Band Ratios……............39
Figure 44. Linear Regression of Chlorophyll-a versus Reflectance Bands……...…40
Figure 45. Linear Regression of Turbidity versus Reflectance Bands………...……40
Figure 46. Linear Regression of Chlorophyll-a
versus Reflectance Band Ratios.......……………………………….41
Figure 47. Linear Regression of Chlorophyll-a
versus Reflectance Band Ratios…………………………………….41
Figure 48. Multiple linear Regression of Mosaic Band Ratios
versus Turbidity……………………………………………………..43
Figure 49. Multiple linear Regression of Reflectance Band Ratios
versus Turbidity……………………………………………………..44
Figure 50. Turbidity Map of Lake Palakpakin, San Pablo, Laguna………………...45

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 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

Table 1. Parameters used for the Mission Planning Tool in eMotion 2…………….14
Table 2. Acquisition Times and No. of Images for each flight…..…………………16
Table 3. Coordinates and Measured Turbidity and Chlorphyll-a Values…………...20
Table 4. Grid Coordinates of the In Situ Points…………………………………….26
Table 5. R2 values for each regression with respect to chlorophyll-a……………….42
Table 6. R2 values for each regression with respect to Turbidity…………………...42
Table 7. Goodness of Fit Statistics for Mosaic Band Ratios vs. Turbidity…………43
Table 8. Goodness of Fit Statistics for Reflectance Band Ratios vs. Turbidity….…44

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