Mapping Potential Effluent Pathways in the Long Point Region of Lake Erie from LANDSAT Imagery

Abstract

As one component of an analysis ofliquid effluent dispersion in the Long Point area of Lake Erie, the regional surface currents are mapped from LANDSAT satellite imagery for a sample of eight cases. These current patterns are interpreted from the configuration of sediment tendrils observed on enhanced and classified images. The current trajectories are viewed as potential effluent pathways. Evidence of a "coastal jet" which has been simulated in numerical models and which has been proposed to be an effective flushing agent, is found along the south shore of Long Point for all weather patterns studied. In Long Point Bay, a counterclockwise flow is observed along the coast in all cases. This appears to be part of a gyre within the Bay. It is possible that effluents released into the Bay would become part of a closed circulation. The implications for the sensitive marshes in the region must be considered.