Mapping Urbanization and Evaluating Its Possible Impacts on Stream Water Quality in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Using GIS and Remote Sensing

Jonah Hall and A. K. M. Azad Hossain
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Jonah Hall: Skytec LLC, Chattanooga, TN 37415, USA
A. K. M. Azad Hossain: Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-46

Abstract: Impervious surfaces (IS) produced by urbanization can facilitate pollutants’ movement to nearby water bodies through stormwater. This study mapped and estimated the IS changes in Chattanooga, Tennessee, using satellite imagery acquired in 1986 and 2016. A model was developed utilizing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index coupled with density slicing to detect and map urbanization through IS growth. Urban growth was quantified at USGS HUC12 watershed level including stream riparian areas. The obtained results show a net growth of 45.12 km 2 of IS with a heterogeneous distribution. About 9.96 km 2 of this growth is within 90 m of streams, about 6% of the study site’s land cover. The Lower South Chickamauga Creek watershed experienced the largest urban growth with a change from 24.2 to 48.5 km 2 . Using the riparian zone percent imperviousness, a stream risk assessment model was developed to evaluate potential stream impairment due to this growth. Approximately 87, 131, and 203 km lengths of streams identified as potentially at high, very high, and extreme risks, respectively, to be impaired due to urban growth from the last 30 years. These findings would benefit to proactively implement sustainable management plans for the streams near rapidly urbanizing areas in the study site.

Keywords: remote sensing; GIS; water quality; urban development; sustainability; impervious surface (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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