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CyAN satellite-derived Cyanobacteria products in support of Public Health Protection
Citation:
Keith, D., B. Schaeffer, T. Laidlaw, R. Stumpf, J. Wordell, B. Holcomb, J. Riley, AND S. Ernst. CyAN satellite-derived Cyanobacteria products in support of Public Health Protection. 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, Oregon, February 11 - 16, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHAB) cause human and ecological health problems worldwide. The timely distribution of satellite derived cyanoHAB satellite data and products is required for adaptive water quality management decision-making and for targeted deployment of existing government and non-government water quality monitoring resources. In this presentation, we highlight case studies where the use of CyAN satellite images significantly contributed to supplementing cyanobacteria monitoring by state environmental and health agencies. Examples will be presented from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality for Utah Lake (Utah) and the US Army Corps of Engineers for Lake Okeechobee (Florida). In these cases, the access to user-friendly data formats and intuitive software platforms allowed managers to effectively monitor the abundance of cyanobacteria cells for identified algal blooms and evaluate, in the context of human health thresholds, the necessity to post public advisories to protect human health.
Description:
The timely distribution of satellite-derived cyanoHAB data is necessary for adaptive water quality management decision-making and for targeted deployment of existing government and non-government water quality monitoring resources. The Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) is a multi-agency project, which includes EPA, NASA, NOAA, and USGS, to develop an early warning indicator system to detect algal blooms in U.S. freshwater systems using historical and current satellite data. In 2017, the project began providing federal and state collaborators with weekly composites of cyanobacteria abundance derived from the Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) sensor that is part of the European Union’s Copernicus program. Satellite data are generally distributed as imagery. Additionally, near real time satellite imagery of algal abundance and distribution and information (spatial and temporal) on cyanobacteria cell counts for more than 1800 lakes across the nation will be available through the CyAN mobile application. Case studies are highlighted from the Utah Division of Water Quality (UDWQ) and US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), which made contributions to supplementing cyanobacteria monitoring in Utah Lake (Utah) and Lake Okeechobee (Florida). In these cases, the access to user-friendly data formats and intuitive software platforms allowed managers to effectively monitor the abundance of cyanobacteria cells for identified algal blooms and evaluate, in the context of human health thresholds, the necessity to post public advisories to protect human health.