Title: Spatial analysis of water quality using a combination of GIS and statistical software

Authors: Xiaoling Chen, Hong Song, Y.S. Li, Zhongzhi Yuan, Onyx W.H. Wai, Zhilin Li, Zhanhua Xu, Baojun Zhang

Addresses: State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, 430079 PR China. ' State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, 430079 PR China. ' Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, 430079 PR China. ' Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. 'Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PR China. ' State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, 430079 PR China'State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, 430079 PR China

Abstract: GIS-based spatial analysis was combined with statistical analysis to process time varying water quality data. A data model was employed to manage the spatio-temporal data. The spatial data engine of ArcSDE was used to access the database. A data relationship model was developed to perform data communication between GIS and the statistical software. Visual Basic was used to construct links between all the software packages being implemented. This allows the combination of the spatial and temporal characteristics into the water quality mathematical analysis. Ten water quality parameters were selected from a water quality monitoring programme to validate the present approach.

Keywords: coastal water environment; GIS; spatial variability; statistical analysis; water quality monitoring; geographic information systems; environmental pollution; communication.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2006.011212

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2006 Vol.28 No.3/4, pp.274 - 296

Published online: 06 Nov 2006 *

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