Monitoring changes in greater Yellowstone lake water quality following the 1988 wildfires

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Abstract
The fires that burned the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) during the summer of 1988 were the largest ever recorded for the region. Wildfire can have profound indirect effects on associated aquatic ecosystems by increased nutrient loading, sediment erosion and runoff. Satellite remote sensing and water quality sampling was used to compare pre‐ versus post‐fire conditions in the GYA's large oligotrophic (high transparency, low productivity) lakes. Inputs of suspended sediment to Jackson Lake appear to have increased. Yellowstone Lake has not shown any discernable shift in water quality. The insights gained separately from the Landsat Thematic and NOAA AVHRR remote sensing systems, along with conventional in‐situ sampling, can be combined into a useful water quality monitoring tool.