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An approach to monitoring cyanobacteria blooms at surface drinking water intakes using satellite imagery (10th National Monitoring Conference)
Citation:
Schaeffer, B., J. Clark, J. Darling, E. Urquhart, AND R. Carlson. An approach to monitoring cyanobacteria blooms at surface drinking water intakes using satellite imagery (10th National Monitoring Conference). 10th National Monitoring Conference, Tampa, FL, May 02 - 06, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation at the 10th National Monitoring Conference
Description:
Cyanobacterial blooms occur worldwide and are associated with human respiratory irritation, undesirable taste and odor of potable water, increased drinking water treatment costs, loss of revenue from recreational use, and human illness as a result of ingestion or skin exposure during recreational activities. Satellite remote sensing technology has the potential to inform and accelerate the engagement of communities and managers in the implementation of best management practices in response to these blooms. Over the last few decades, satellite technology has allowed measurements on a global scale over long time periods, and is now proving useful in characterizing lakes and reservoirs on a local scale more relevant to water quality managers. In this study we explore the possibility of applying this technology to assess relative levels of exposure risk to spatially resolvable water bodies, particularly those utilized as surface drinking water sources. Cyanobacteria cell counts were derived using historical data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on the European Space Agency’s Envisat-1 satellite from 2009 to 2012. First, frequency of usable satellite images were calculated to estimate the number of observations available throughout a calendar year. These observations were then used to estimate risk as the fraction of observations that cyanobacteria cell counts were above the World Health Organization High threshold of 100,000 cells/mL within resolvable arrays (900m x 900m) neighboring known surface drinking water intakes. Geographic patterns of vulnerability to HABs were assessed in order to develop a broader understanding of risk at multiple spatial scales. In addition, temporal analysis was performed to test the potential for future development of near-real time cyanobacteria bloom detection.
