Spatio-temporal variation of nitrate based on Landsat 8 in Playa Colorada bay, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Characterizing water quality in coastal waters through spatial observations is challenging, due to spatial and temporal variations in water composition. Nitrate, an important compound for water quality assessment, has received little attention in estimates made from satellite measurements, even though it can be estimated using models generated from multispectral images. Since nitrate is a non-optically active parameter that can be correlated with optically active parameters, it was related to bands of the visible and infrared spectrum, captured in Landsat-8 images, and used to generate empirical models to estimate the spatio-temporal variation of nitrate concentration in the Playa Colorada Bay, in the state of Sinaloa Northwest Mexico.

Chlorpyrifos and Dimethoate in Water and Sediments of Agricultural Drainage Ditches in Northern Sinaloa, Mexico.

In northern Sinaloa state, Mexico, little is known on organophosphate pesticide transport and fate in agricultural drainage systems. Spatial and temporal variation of chlorpyrifos and dimethoate was assessed in two agricultural drainage ditches (Buenaventura and Burrión) and risk for aquatic life was estimated. Analysis was made by high performance liquid chromatography and risk estimates were determined following international reference frameworks.