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Updates on Using Multi-media Modeling to Investigate Conditions Leading to Harmful Algal Blooms
Citation:
Chang, C., C. Nowakowski, M. Astitha, V. Garcia, P. Vlahos, C. Tang, D. Wanik, AND J. Yan. Updates on Using Multi-media Modeling to Investigate Conditions Leading to Harmful Algal Blooms. 2018 CMAS Conference, Chapel Hill, NC, October 22 - 24, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
In this study, we demonstrate how modeled and observed variables can be used to characterize algal blooms using chlorophyll-α (chlor-α) concentrations as proxies for the period 2002-2012.
Description:
The area of focus is Lake Erie, the shallowest, warmest, and most biologically active of the Great Lakes. The lake provides drinking water for 12 million people in the U.S. and Canada. Agriculture, tourism, commercial fishing, and recreational activities are a few of the ecosystem services that Lake Erie provides but excessive algal growth poses a threat to the surrounding ecosystem and to uman health. (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2018). In this study we aim to demonstrate how modeled and observed variables can be used to identify algal blooms using chlorophyll-α (chlor-α) concentrations as proxies for the period 2002-2012. From 2002-2012 the chlor-α level in the western basin has averaged at a eutrophic level while the central basin has been mesotrophic and the eastern basin oligotrophic (Forage Task Group, 2012).
