Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation

Maintaining high water quality is essential not only for human survival but also for social and ecological safety. In recent years, due to the influence of human activities and natural factors, water quality has significantly deteriorated, and effective water quality monitoring is urgently needed. T...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhanqiang Yu, Hangnan Yu, Lan Li, Jiangtao Yu, Jie Yu, Xinyue Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Hydrology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/12/3/61
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850279439562178560
author Zhanqiang Yu
Hangnan Yu
Lan Li
Jiangtao Yu
Jie Yu
Xinyue Gao
author_facet Zhanqiang Yu
Hangnan Yu
Lan Li
Jiangtao Yu
Jie Yu
Xinyue Gao
author_sort Zhanqiang Yu
collection DOAJ
description Maintaining high water quality is essential not only for human survival but also for social and ecological safety. In recent years, due to the influence of human activities and natural factors, water quality has significantly deteriorated, and effective water quality monitoring is urgently needed. Traditional water quality monitoring requires substantial financial investment, whereas the remote sensing and random forest model not only reduces operational costs but also achieves a paradigm shift from discrete sampling points to spatially continuous surveillance. The random forest model was adopted to establish a remote sensing inversion model of three water quality parameters (conductivity, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP)) during the growing period (May to September) from 2020 to 2022 in the Songhua River Basin (SRB), using Landsat 8 imagery and China’s national water quality monitoring section data. Model verification shows that the R<sup>2</sup> of conductivity is 0.67, followed by that of TN at 0.52 and TP at 0.47. The results revealed that the downstream conductivity of SRB (212.72 μS/cm) was significantly higher than that upstream (161.62 μS/cm), with TN and TP concentrations exhibiting a similar increasing pattern. This study is significant for improving ecological conservation and human health in the SRB.
format Article
id doaj-art-75f5e0f707bb45dbada3ba85e5c4239e
institution OA Journals
issn 2306-5338
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Hydrology
spelling doaj-art-75f5e0f707bb45dbada3ba85e5c4239e2025-08-20T01:49:04ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382025-03-011236110.3390/hydrology12030061Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and GeoinformationZhanqiang Yu0Hangnan Yu1Lan Li2Jiangtao Yu3Jie Yu4Xinyue Gao5College of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji 133000, ChinaCollege of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji 133000, ChinaCollege of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji 133000, ChinaCollege of Geographical Science, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, ChinaCollege of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji 133000, ChinaCollege of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji 133000, ChinaMaintaining high water quality is essential not only for human survival but also for social and ecological safety. In recent years, due to the influence of human activities and natural factors, water quality has significantly deteriorated, and effective water quality monitoring is urgently needed. Traditional water quality monitoring requires substantial financial investment, whereas the remote sensing and random forest model not only reduces operational costs but also achieves a paradigm shift from discrete sampling points to spatially continuous surveillance. The random forest model was adopted to establish a remote sensing inversion model of three water quality parameters (conductivity, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP)) during the growing period (May to September) from 2020 to 2022 in the Songhua River Basin (SRB), using Landsat 8 imagery and China’s national water quality monitoring section data. Model verification shows that the R<sup>2</sup> of conductivity is 0.67, followed by that of TN at 0.52 and TP at 0.47. The results revealed that the downstream conductivity of SRB (212.72 μS/cm) was significantly higher than that upstream (161.62 μS/cm), with TN and TP concentrations exhibiting a similar increasing pattern. This study is significant for improving ecological conservation and human health in the SRB.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/12/3/61water qualitySonghua River Basinrandom forestremote sensing inversion
spellingShingle Zhanqiang Yu
Hangnan Yu
Lan Li
Jiangtao Yu
Jie Yu
Xinyue Gao
Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation
Hydrology
water quality
Songhua River Basin
random forest
remote sensing inversion
title Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation
title_full Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation
title_fullStr Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation
title_full_unstemmed Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation
title_short Inferring Water Quality in the Songhua River Basin Using Random Forest Regression Based on Satellite Imagery and Geoinformation
title_sort inferring water quality in the songhua river basin using random forest regression based on satellite imagery and geoinformation
topic water quality
Songhua River Basin
random forest
remote sensing inversion
url https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/12/3/61
work_keys_str_mv AT zhanqiangyu inferringwaterqualityinthesonghuariverbasinusingrandomforestregressionbasedonsatelliteimageryandgeoinformation
AT hangnanyu inferringwaterqualityinthesonghuariverbasinusingrandomforestregressionbasedonsatelliteimageryandgeoinformation
AT lanli inferringwaterqualityinthesonghuariverbasinusingrandomforestregressionbasedonsatelliteimageryandgeoinformation
AT jiangtaoyu inferringwaterqualityinthesonghuariverbasinusingrandomforestregressionbasedonsatelliteimageryandgeoinformation
AT jieyu inferringwaterqualityinthesonghuariverbasinusingrandomforestregressionbasedonsatelliteimageryandgeoinformation
AT xinyuegao inferringwaterqualityinthesonghuariverbasinusingrandomforestregressionbasedonsatelliteimageryandgeoinformation