Monitoring water quality for tropical freshwater fisheries and aquaculture: a review of aircraft and satellite imagery applications

Abstract  Water quality in tropical fish ponds is generally evaluated without the assistance of remote sensing because of cost, cloud cover, and other constraints, but certain parameters such as suspended solid concentrations, colour, chlorophyll and temperature can effectively be monitored by aerial photography and satellite imagery. This paper reviews applications of remote sensing to tropical inland fisheries and aquaculture and includes applications from related disciplines. A brief assessment of new platforms and sensors is also presented. Remote sensing images may help to inform researchers and planners about water quality trends that are occurring over a broad area in which fisheries and aquaculture activities occur. However, the operational use of remote sensing in aquaculture remains largely experimental.