EMECS9: Managing for Results in our Coastal Seas

Field Survey and Satellite Validation of Water Quality Parameters of Rivers in theSurroundings of Santo Domingo Metropolitan Area, Dominican Republic
Esteban R. Miño1, Yuji Sakuno2, Tetsuji Okuda3, Hidemi Mutsuda2, Satoshi Nakai4, Wataru Nishijima3,
Marcos Rodriguez5 and Franklin M. Reyes5
1Institute for Sustainable Sciences and Development, Hiroshima University, Japan
Department of Transportation and Environmental Systems, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University
Environmental Research and Management Center, Hiroshima University
4
Department of Chemical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University
5Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Dominican Republic
23About one third of the population of the Dominican Republic is concentrated in Santo Domingo
Metropolitan area (SDMA). Ozama, Isabela and Haina rivers are the three main rivers in the surroundingsof SDMA. Ozama River is considered the 4th most important in Dominican Republic because of its flow.
Ozama and Haina rivers flow crossing SDMA at the East and West, respectively, before emptying into theCaribbean Sea. Isabela River is one of the main tributaries of Ozama River and it runs in the North part ofSDMA.
Water quality monitoring of rivers and coastal areas requires a great amount of effort and monetaryinvestment. Satellite imagery covers a broad area and requires neither great amount of money nor effort.
Remote sensing through satellite imagery is a technique that can be used to understand the macro
situation of the environmental pollution of rivers and their influence in coastal areas. Therefore, thepurpose of this research is to perform field surveys of the water quality in the above mentioned rivers andcoastal areas and to validate the data using satellite imagery in order to create a model that could beused any time to determine the water quality of the rivers and coastal areas mentioned.
In situ monitoring of the representative locations of Ozama, Isabela and Haina rivers, including the mouthof Ozama and Haina was performed from a vessel using a portable water quality meter (TOA-DKKWQ24). Dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, conductivity, turbidity, temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS),salinity, sea water specific gravity and chlorophyll a were determined. Water samples were also taken andfiltered through a fiberglass filter (Whatman GF/F) to determine the amount of suspended solids (SS). A
correlation between the amount of SS and color spectra of water was determined and it was used tovalidate the data with the satellite imagery.
Along the banks of the rivers there are a great number of sewage pipe ends as well as several ravinesthat converge in the rivers, all of them discharging their flow of domestic and industrial wastewater as well
as garbage. Results show that SS, turbidity and chlorophyll a values are very high in these places andDO values are very low. Chlorophyll a values for the most polluted locations are higher than 40 μg/l and25 μg/l for the Haina and Ozama-Isabela rivers, respectively, showing conditions of hypereutrophication.
A significant correlation (0.72) was observed between the color spectra of water and ALOS band 1 (blueband), which shows the possibility of the use of remote sensing to determine the macro situation ofpollution in the rivers and coastal areas
Contact Information: Esteban R. Miño., Institute for Sustainable Sciences and Development, Hiroshima University,Kagamiyama 1-3-2, Higashi Hiroshima shi, Hiroshima ken, 739-8511 Japan, Phone: +81-82-424-6195, Fax: +81-82-424-4351,
Email:erminoa-env@hiroshima-u.ac.jp and erminoa@hotmail.com

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