Limitations
What AquaLinks is not.
We’d rather under-promise than over-claim. AquaLinks is built to help field teams decide where to sample first — not to replace the chemistry that comes after.
Not certified.
AquaLinks does not produce certified water-quality results. Spectral indices are statistical proxies for water-quality parameters; certification requires accredited laboratory analysis.
No toxin detection.
AquaLinks does not detect cyanotoxins, heavy metals, or pathogens. Bloom-related indices are precursor signals, not toxin measurements.
Scene age and cloud cover.
Sentinel-2 revisit time is 5 days at the equator and varies elsewhere. A high-cloud day means the latest usable scene may be a week or two old. Every report shows the capture date and cloud percentage.
Mixed pixels.
Indices computed over the water mask still mix shallow vegetation, sediment plumes, and shoreline in their tails. Treat individual pixels with skepticism; aggregate means are more robust.
Field evidence required.
Remote sensing never replaces field sampling. AquaLinks prioritises where to sample. The final assessment still requires a wet-lab measurement.
Advisory only.
Every report carries an advisory disclaimer. Don’t use AquaLinks to make public-safety decisions on its own.