Low-cost sensors and multi-temporal remote sensing for operational turbidity monitoring in an East African wetland environment

Many wetlands in East Africa are farmed and wetland reservoirs are used for irrigation, livestock, and fishing. Water quality and agriculture have a mutual influence on each other. Turbidity is a principal indicator of water quality and can be used for otherwise unmonitored water sources. Low-cost turbidity sensors improve in-situ coverage and enable community engagement. Availability of high spatial resolution satellite images from the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) and of bio-optical models, such as the Case 2 Regional CoastColour (C2RCC) processor, have fostered turbidity modelling. However, these models need local adjustment, and the quality of low-cost sensor measurements is debated. We tested the combination of both technologies to monitor turbidity in small wetland reservoirs in Kenya. We sampled ten reservoirs with low-cost sensors and a turbidimeter during five Sentinel-2 overpasses. Low-cost sensor calibration resulted in an R² of 0.71. The models using the C2RCC C2X-COMPLEX (C2XC) neural nets with turbidimeter measurements (R² = 0.83) and with low-cost measurements (R² = 0.62) performed better than the turbidimeter-based C2X model. The C2XC models showed similar patterns for a one-year time series, particularly around the turbidity limit set by Kenyan authorities. This shows that both the data from the commercial turbidimeter and the low-cost sensor setup, despite sensor uncertainties, could be used to validate the applicability of C2RCC in the study area, select the better performing neural nets, and adapt the model to the study site. We conclude that combined monitoring with low-cost sensors and remote sensing can support wetland and water management while strengthening community-centred approaches.