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Updated: May 25, 2026

Continuous Instream Monitoring of Nutrients and Sediment in Agricultural Watersheds
Published on: September 26, 2017
[Study on the linkage between urban built-up land and water quality in the Jiulong River watershed]
Qin-Qin Sun1, Jin-Liang Huang, Hua-Sheng Hong
1Environmental Science Research Center, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China. qqsun@xmu.edu.cn
Abstract:
Band grouping indices combined with single band characteristic were used to extract urban built-up land based on satellite image in the Jiulong River Watershed. Landscape ecology method and statistical analysis were employed to explore the relationship between urban built-up land and permanganate index, NH4(+) -N, TP concentrations. There were significantly positive correlations between the proportion of urban built-up land and permanganate index, NH4(+) -N, TP (r = 0.701, 0.695, 0.789). It indicates the proportion of urban built-up land areas in the sub-watershed could be an effective indicator of water quality. The largest patch index (LPI) was positively correlated to permanganate index, NH4(+) -N, TP concentrations in the water (r = 0.555, 0.643, 0.722). The landscape shape index(LSI) was positively correlated to permanganate index and TP concentrations in the water (r = 0.564, 0.553). These means the impacts of urban built-up land on water quality are influenced not only by urban built-up land areas but also by spatial patterns. The seasonally linear correlation results show that water quality deteriorates quickly with urban built-up land during the flood season and dry season, and the water is susceptible to eutrophication in both flood and dry seasons. The water quality in most sub-watersheds are impacted by urban built-up land, while the urban built-up land areas of Longmen stream, Su stream and Xiao stream located in headstreams are intensive, which need to be adjusted and controlled to protect the water quality.
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