Integrated remote sensing and GIS techniques for biogeochemical characterization of the Tinto-Odiel estuary system, SW Spain

The Tinto-Odiel estuary area in SW Spain presents a high concentration of industrial, agricultural and mining activities that seriously affect water quality, producing significant concentrations in trace metals and other contaminant elements. Previous studies have highlighted the important environmental effect of these contaminated waters discharged into the Gulf of Cadiz, contributing in a marked way to trace-metal concentrations in the Mediterranean Sea by water inflow through the Strait of Gibraltar. A global biogeochemical characterization of these waters was the main objective of a multidisciplinary research study funded by the European Union, in which remote sensing and GIS techniques, among other methodologies, were jointly applied. The main results confirmed the usefulness of this integrated methodological approach as an effective tool for the assessment of current biogeochemical conditions. Digital image processing provided valuable thematic information for temporal hydrodynamic analysis and water quality parameters mapping, which was integrated into a GIS database together with experimental information sampled in oceanographic cruises.