Machine and Deep Learning Regression of Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Lakes Using PRISMA Satellite Hyperspectral Imagery

The estimation of Chlorophyll-a concentration is crucial for monitoring freshwater ecosystem health, particularly in lakes, as it is closely linked to eutrophication processes. Satellite imagery enables synoptic and frequent evaluations of Chlorophyll-a in water bodies, providing essential insights into spatiotemporal eutrophication dynamics. Frontier applications in water remote sensing support the utilization of machine and deep learning models applied to hyperspectral satellite imagery. This paper presents a comparative analysis of conventional machine and deep learning models—namely, Random Forest Regressor, Support Vector Regressor, Long Short-Term Memory, and Gated Recurrent Unit networks—for estimating Chlorophyll-a concentrations. The analysis is based on data from the PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (PRISMA) hyperspectral mission, complemented by low-resolution Chlorophyll-a concentration maps. The analysis focuses on three sub-alpine lakes, spanning Northern Italy and Switzerland as testing areas. Through a series of modelling experiments, best-performing model configurations are pinpointed for both Chlorophyll-a concentration estimations and the improvement of spatial resolution in predictions. Support Vector Regressor demonstrated a superior performance in Chlorophyll-a concentration estimations, while Random Forest Regressor emerged as the most effective solution for refining the spatial resolution of predictions.