Abstract
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) are a serious environmental, water quality and public health issue worldwide because of their ability to form dense biomass and produce toxins. Models and algorithms have been developed to detect and quantify cyanoHABs biomass using remotely sensed data but not for quantifying bloom magnitude, information that would guide water quality management decisions. We propose a method to quantify seasonal and annual cyanoHAB magnitude in lakes and reservoirs. The magnitude is the spatiotemporal mean of weekly or biweekly maximum cyanobacteria biomass for the season or year. CyanoHAB biomass is quantified using a standard reflectance spectral shape-based algorithm that uses data from Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS). We demonstrate the method to quantify annual and seasonal cyanoHAB magnitude in Florida and Ohio (USA) respectively during 2003–2011 and rank the lakes based on median magnitude over the study period. The new method can be applied to Sentinel-3 Ocean Land Color Imager (OLCI) data for assessment of cyanoHABs and the change over time, even with issues such as variable data acquisition frequency or sensor calibration uncertainties between satellites. CyanoHAB magnitude can support monitoring and management decision-making for recreational and drinking water sources.
Highlights
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms are a serious environmental, water quality and public health issue worldwide because of their ability to form dense biomass and scum and to produce toxins such as neurotoxins, hepatotoxins, and cytotoxins[1]
The methods are applicable to the Sentinel-3 Ocean Land Color Imager (OLCI), the replacement for MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), which was first launched on Sentinel-3A in 2016
CyanoHAB magnitude is calculated as an annual mean of 7- or 14-day maximum accumulation of Cyanobacteria Index (CI) in the lakes in Florida over the observation period
Summary
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) are a serious environmental, water quality and public health issue worldwide because of their ability to form dense biomass and scum and to produce toxins such as neurotoxins (anatoxin-a), hepatotoxins (microcystins), and cytotoxins (cylindrospermospin)[1]. In order to reduce the risk of exposure to cyanotoxins, more frequent water quality assessments are needed to monitor the status and historical trends of cyanoHABs in inland lakes This information is needed at regional as well as national scales, including lakes and reservoirs designated as drinking water sources and recreational water bodies. In the United States, the National Lakes Assessment (NLA)[10] was designed to provide national estimates of lake conditions with biological, chemical, physical, and recreational/human health indicators. Recent studies on multiple lakes have focused on quantifying cyanoHAB spatial extent (km2)[29] and temporal frequency (% of observations)[15] These studies have started to address management questions of change in spatial and temporal cyanobacteria bloom dynamics over time. The methods are applicable to the Sentinel-3 Ocean Land Color Imager (OLCI), the replacement for MERIS, which was first launched on Sentinel-3A in 2016
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