Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a growing concern in Idaho. Within the past five years, Idaho agencies have issued at least 57 HAB notices on 29 water bodies throughout the state. Toxins produced by HABs pose risks to human and animal health. Local economies may also be adversely affected when algal blooms discourage outdoor recreation.
Routinely monitoring the state's many water bodies is too expensive to be practical. As a result, state agencies and health districts are often forced to respond to citizen reports to send field crews out to collect water samples. Earth observation satellites can guide more proactive field monitoring by capturing multispectral images of entire water bodies with a frequency of greater than one capture per week. These images will help agencies to know when and where to collect water samples for testing.
We are developing automated software tools to collect and process imagery from a suite of three satellites:
- Landsat 8 (USGS and NASA)
- Sentinal-2A and Sentinel-2B (European Space Agency)
Early results comparing satellite imagery with field samples collected form Brownlee Reservoir show promise in pinpointing areas as small as about 100 feet square where alglal blooms may be developing. The frequency of image capture from the overlapping satellite flights means that we can identify areas of concern in near real time.
In January 2020, we held a stakeholder meeting in Boise to share information and gather feedback which will guide the future of this project. The meeting included representatives form Idaho Power Company, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and the Central and Southwest Public Health Districts. We thank all of these agencies for their interest and input.
Our next step will be to develop a screening tool that will provide alerts and necessary information to resource managers. We hope to have the initial tool ready by the summer of 2020.
Read our 2022 information sheet USGS Science to Protect Wildlife and Human Health (PDF)
The following other science projects are associated with this study.
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Cooperative Matching Funds Projects
- Overview
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a growing concern in Idaho. Within the past five years, Idaho agencies have issued at least 57 HAB notices on 29 water bodies throughout the state. Toxins produced by HABs pose risks to human and animal health. Local economies may also be adversely affected when algal blooms discourage outdoor recreation.
Routinely monitoring the state's many water bodies is too expensive to be practical. As a result, state agencies and health districts are often forced to respond to citizen reports to send field crews out to collect water samples. Earth observation satellites can guide more proactive field monitoring by capturing multispectral images of entire water bodies with a frequency of greater than one capture per week. These images will help agencies to know when and where to collect water samples for testing.
We are developing automated software tools to collect and process imagery from a suite of three satellites:
- Landsat 8 (USGS and NASA)
- Sentinal-2A and Sentinel-2B (European Space Agency)
Early results comparing satellite imagery with field samples collected form Brownlee Reservoir show promise in pinpointing areas as small as about 100 feet square where alglal blooms may be developing. The frequency of image capture from the overlapping satellite flights means that we can identify areas of concern in near real time.
In January 2020, we held a stakeholder meeting in Boise to share information and gather feedback which will guide the future of this project. The meeting included representatives form Idaho Power Company, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and the Central and Southwest Public Health Districts. We thank all of these agencies for their interest and input.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Hydrologist Tyler King leads a meeting of stakeholders to discuss a USGS project to apply remote sensing techniaues to monitor Idaho water bodies for algal blooms Our next step will be to develop a screening tool that will provide alerts and necessary information to resource managers. We hope to have the initial tool ready by the summer of 2020.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Screenshot showing a prototype of the screening tool that would help agencies determine where and when they should collect field samples for algal blooms. Read our 2022 information sheet USGS Science to Protect Wildlife and Human Health (PDF)
- Science
The following other science projects are associated with this study.
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Cooperative Matching Funds Projects
New projects from coast to coast will advance the research on harmful algal blooms (HABs) in lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The vivid emerald-colored algal blooms are caused by cyanobacteria, which can produce cyanotoxins that threaten human health and aquatic ecosystems and can cause major economic damage. - Data
- News
- Partners