Surficial and groundwater exchanges by means of Landsat thermal data: The eastern Laizhou Bay (China)
(Italy)
Q. G. Xing, M. J. Lou, L. J. Yu, C. Tang
Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, P. R. China
F. Braga, L. Tosi, L. Zaggia
Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR, Venezia, Italy
P. Teatini
Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
ABSTRACT
Low-salinity groundwater reserves beneath the sea bottom and submarine groundwater discharges (SGD)
are of great importance in the use and management of coastal water resource. A preliminary
hydro-morpho-geologic analysis allows for considering the presence of
low-salinity groundwater in the offshore of the Laizhou Bay (Southern Bohai Sea, China). In order to detect the
potential SGD the analysis of the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies
has been carried out by Landsat images in the seasons when seawater and
groundwater are characterised by the largest difference in temperature. The main outcomes of the study are the
following. At the nearshore scale, along the intertidal zone of the Southern bay,
where the unconfined aquifer discharges, patchy cold water anomalies occur,
approximately in the same positions in different tide conditions. At the embayment scale in the Eastern
Laizhou Bay where the confined aquifer is likely exposed, cold water anomalies are spread out.
