Evaluating Landscape Patterns and Water Quality Relationships in Beheshtabad River

Water quality of rivers is strongly influenced by landscape characteristics of their watershed, including land use/ cover types. For these reasons, it is essential to monitor water quality parameters (WQPs) in the rivers. This research evaluates the effects of land cover changes on the water quality of the Beheshtabad River which are located in the Chaharmahal- o- Bakhtiary province. In this research, Landsat Images were used to evaluate water quality parameters such as Suspended Solid (SS), Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphor (TP) and Chlorophyll a (Chl-a). Then, Landscape metrics such as PLAND, ED, TE and LPI were used to characterize various ecosystem services and landscape functions. Finally, the correlation between water quality and landscape metrics was studied. The main objectives of this research are: 1) to evaluate the potential application of Landsat images for estimating water quality of the rivers, 2) to evaluate how landscape metrics influences on the water quality indices.

Keywords:

water quality , Landsat Images , Landscape metrics , Ecosystem services , Beheshtabad River , Land use