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Application for HAB Monitoring of the Ohio River
Citation:
Nietch, C., G. Youngstrom, L. Gains-Germain, T. Linscome-Hatfield, E. Harmeling, J. Lazorchak, AND S. Keely. Application for HAB Monitoring of the Ohio River. 13th National Monitoring Conference, Virginia Beach, VA, April 24 - 28, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
In response to two large harmful agal bloom (HAB) events on the Ohio River in 2015 and 2019 a risk characterization tool/web application was developed. The tool has been in use by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission for two bloom seasons, serving to predict the probability of HABs based on river flow conditions and as a water data monitoring utility.
Description:
In response to two large harmful agal bloom (HAB) events on the Ohio River in 2015 and 2019 a risk characterization tool/web application was developed. The tool has been in use by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission for two bloom seasons, serving to predict the probability of HABs based on river flow conditions and as a water data monitoring utility. The tool is accessible to the public at url: https://orsanco-hab.shinyapps.io/shiny-ohio-river/#. It was designed with visualization options for studying water quality trends that could be associated with or indicative of bloom conditions among river sites actively collecting real-time data. The tool posts the results of two predictive models for any one of 20 sites spread out along the length of the 981 mile Ohio River: one model predicts the probability of a HAB occurring and the other of a HAB persisting in the current summer season. Both model predictions are based on antecedent river flow conditions and were originally derived from twenty-five years of river discharge data and the flow conditions prior to the two major HAB events. The prediction models are updated with new data each year. A tool update is underway that includes linking to the National Weather Service’s ensemble hydrological forecasts, which will allow for forecasting HAB occurrence one to two months ahead of when blooms would be expected on the river.
