Satellite Imagery Used to Measure Algal Bloom Frequency—Steps Toward Understanding Exposure Risk Completed
Frequency of Observed CyanoHAB Occurrence in Central Florida Lakes
Study explores the utility and limitations of currently available remotely sensed satellite data for identifying the frequency of algal blooms in the Nation's lakes and reservoirs. This information provides a first step toward the goal of understanding exposure risk to protect the health of humans, pets, livestock, and wildlife.
Our Nation's lakes and reservoirs provide drinking water, habitat for wildlife, and recreational opportunities. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can result in the loss of recreational opportunities and income, loss of aquatic habitat and important fisheries, and present health risks associated with exposure to the toxins these blooms can produce. One of the most common forms of HABs in inland lakes and reservoirs, cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs), can produce toxins that pose a range of health risks to humans, pets, livestock, and wildlife.
Although toxins cannot be directly measured from space, the pigments associated with algal blooms can be measured using remotely sensed data from satellites. Previous research indicates strategies to link toxin concentrations with pigments sensed remotely. There are questions as to the efficacy of the currently (2017) available remotely sensed data to identify algal blooms in small waterbodies used for recreation and drinking water, and the ability to use the data to understand trends in CyanoHABs over time.
Scientists developed an approach to assess the frequency of CyanoHABs over time at two test regions. This research was part of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN), which is a multiagency project among the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop an early warning indicator system using historical and current satellite data to detect algal blooms in U.S. freshwater systems.
Scientists explored the utility and limitations of current satellite-based technology to determine CyanoHAB occurrence. Four methods of calculating CyanoHAB frequency above defined thresholds were developed for recreational and drinking water sources in Florida and Ohio from 2008 through 2011. Scientists determined that CyanoHAB occurrence patterns could be reliably estimated at these two test locations, indicating that the approach may be more broadly applicable throughout the Nation, particularly as satellites of sufficient resolution and sensing capabilities become available.
Limitations for successful implementation of the approach include satellite resolution and sensing capabilities. Currently available satellites with the highest resolution, such as Landsat, can capture 62 percent of lakes greater than 1 hectare (2.47 acres) and 95 percent of the lakes with public drinking water intake locations. Unfortunately, these satellites make less frequent flyovers and are not equipped with sensors capable of distinguishing CyanoHABs from other types of HABs. Lower resolution satellites capture less than 1 percent of waterbodies and only 33 percent of drinking water intakes but make flyovers that are more frequent and can identify CyanoHABs.
This study provides consistent and transferrable methods to characterize CyanoHAB frequency using remotely sensed data. The utility and limitations of the currently available satellite data for understanding CyanoHAB frequency is highlighted, including the importance of satellite resolution and sensing capability for measuring CyanoHABs on small inland lakes. This information can help identify and prioritize the resolution, observation frequency, and sensing capabilities needed for future imagers that are better equipped for algal bloom detection.
This study is part of a larger effort of the USGS Environmental Health Program to provide information that will help resource managers understand how to effectively minimize potential risks to the health of humans and other organisms exposed to cyantotoxins and other biogenic toxins through recreation, drinking water, and other exposure routes.
This study was supported by the NASA Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program/Applied Science Program (proposal NASA 14-SMDUNSOL14- 0001), the EPA, NOAA, and the USGS Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology.
More Information
- USGS Technical Announcement: Satellite Imagery Can Track Harmful Algal Blooms
- Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins, USGS Kansas Water Science Center
Related Featured Science Activities
- Cyanobacteria from 2016 Lake Okeechobee Harmful Algal Bloom Photo-Documented
- Evaluating Linkages Between Algal Toxins and Human Health
- New Study on Cyanotoxins in Lakes and Reservoirs Provides Insights into Assessing Health Risks
- Importance of Lake Sediments in Removal of Cyanobacteria, Viruses, and Dissolved Organic Carbon
- U.S. Geological Survey Scientists Complete First Systematic Regional Survey of Algal Toxins in Streams of the Southeastern United States
- Remote Sensing Provides a National View of Cyanobacteria Blooms
- Algal Blooms Consistently Produce Complex Mixtures of Cyanotoxins and Co-Occur with Taste-and-Odor Causing Compounds in 23 Midwestern Lakes
See below for related science.
Toxins and Harmful Algal Blooms Science Team
Satellite Data Used to Estimate and Rank Cyanobacterial Bloom Magnitude in Florida and Ohio Lakes—Developing Tools to Protect Human and Wildlife Health from Cyanotoxin Exposure
Mixtures of Algal Toxins Present Prior to and After Formation of Visible Algal Blooms—Science to Inform the Timing of Algal Toxin Exposure
Understanding Drivers of Cyanotoxin Production in the Lake Okeechobee Waterway
Understanding Associations between Mussel Productivity and Cyanotoxins in Lake Erie
New Method Developed to Quantify Spatial Extent of Cyanobacterial Blooms
Cyanobacteria from 2016 Lake Okeechobee Harmful Algal Bloom Photo-Documented
Evaluating Linkages Between Algal Toxins and Human Health
- Overview
Study explores the utility and limitations of currently available remotely sensed satellite data for identifying the frequency of algal blooms in the Nation's lakes and reservoirs. This information provides a first step toward the goal of understanding exposure risk to protect the health of humans, pets, livestock, and wildlife.
Our Nation's lakes and reservoirs provide drinking water, habitat for wildlife, and recreational opportunities. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can result in the loss of recreational opportunities and income, loss of aquatic habitat and important fisheries, and present health risks associated with exposure to the toxins these blooms can produce. One of the most common forms of HABs in inland lakes and reservoirs, cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs), can produce toxins that pose a range of health risks to humans, pets, livestock, and wildlife.
Although toxins cannot be directly measured from space, the pigments associated with algal blooms can be measured using remotely sensed data from satellites. Previous research indicates strategies to link toxin concentrations with pigments sensed remotely. There are questions as to the efficacy of the currently (2017) available remotely sensed data to identify algal blooms in small waterbodies used for recreation and drinking water, and the ability to use the data to understand trends in CyanoHABs over time.
Scientists developed an approach to assess the frequency of CyanoHABs over time at two test regions. This research was part of the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN), which is a multiagency project among the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop an early warning indicator system using historical and current satellite data to detect algal blooms in U.S. freshwater systems.
Scientists explored the utility and limitations of current satellite-based technology to determine CyanoHAB occurrence. Four methods of calculating CyanoHAB frequency above defined thresholds were developed for recreational and drinking water sources in Florida and Ohio from 2008 through 2011. Scientists determined that CyanoHAB occurrence patterns could be reliably estimated at these two test locations, indicating that the approach may be more broadly applicable throughout the Nation, particularly as satellites of sufficient resolution and sensing capabilities become available.
Limitations for successful implementation of the approach include satellite resolution and sensing capabilities. Currently available satellites with the highest resolution, such as Landsat, can capture 62 percent of lakes greater than 1 hectare (2.47 acres) and 95 percent of the lakes with public drinking water intake locations. Unfortunately, these satellites make less frequent flyovers and are not equipped with sensors capable of distinguishing CyanoHABs from other types of HABs. Lower resolution satellites capture less than 1 percent of waterbodies and only 33 percent of drinking water intakes but make flyovers that are more frequent and can identify CyanoHABs.
This study provides consistent and transferrable methods to characterize CyanoHAB frequency using remotely sensed data. The utility and limitations of the currently available satellite data for understanding CyanoHAB frequency is highlighted, including the importance of satellite resolution and sensing capability for measuring CyanoHABs on small inland lakes. This information can help identify and prioritize the resolution, observation frequency, and sensing capabilities needed for future imagers that are better equipped for algal bloom detection.
This study is part of a larger effort of the USGS Environmental Health Program to provide information that will help resource managers understand how to effectively minimize potential risks to the health of humans and other organisms exposed to cyantotoxins and other biogenic toxins through recreation, drinking water, and other exposure routes.
This study was supported by the NASA Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program/Applied Science Program (proposal NASA 14-SMDUNSOL14- 0001), the EPA, NOAA, and the USGS Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology.
More Information
- USGS Technical Announcement: Satellite Imagery Can Track Harmful Algal Blooms
- Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins, USGS Kansas Water Science Center
Related Featured Science Activities
- Cyanobacteria from 2016 Lake Okeechobee Harmful Algal Bloom Photo-Documented
- Evaluating Linkages Between Algal Toxins and Human Health
- New Study on Cyanotoxins in Lakes and Reservoirs Provides Insights into Assessing Health Risks
- Importance of Lake Sediments in Removal of Cyanobacteria, Viruses, and Dissolved Organic Carbon
- U.S. Geological Survey Scientists Complete First Systematic Regional Survey of Algal Toxins in Streams of the Southeastern United States
- Remote Sensing Provides a National View of Cyanobacteria Blooms
- Algal Blooms Consistently Produce Complex Mixtures of Cyanotoxins and Co-Occur with Taste-and-Odor Causing Compounds in 23 Midwestern Lakes
- Science
See below for related science.
Toxins and Harmful Algal Blooms Science Team
The team develops advanced methods to study factors driving algal toxin production, how and where wildlife or humans are exposed to toxins, and ecotoxicology. That information is used to develop decision tools to understand if toxin exposure leads to adverse health effects in order to protect human and wildlife health.Satellite Data Used to Estimate and Rank Cyanobacterial Bloom Magnitude in Florida and Ohio Lakes—Developing Tools to Protect Human and Wildlife Health from Cyanotoxin Exposure
Cyanobacterial bloom magnitude during 2003–11 was quantified and ranked in Florida and Ohio lakes with a newly developed modelling tool that allows for the use of multiple satellite data sources and user-defined thresholds. This tool was designed to identify the magnitude of algal blooms, but one metric alone cannot adequately represent the severity of a bloom of interest in terms of toxicity. The...Mixtures of Algal Toxins Present Prior to and After Formation of Visible Algal Blooms—Science to Inform the Timing of Algal Toxin Exposure
Cyanobacteria with toxin-producing potential, genes indicating an ability for toxin synthesis, or cyanotoxins were present before and after formation of a visible algal bloom in Kabetogama Lake, a popular recreation area in Voyageurs National Park that lies along the border of Minnesota and Canada. The temporal patterns observed in this study indicate that sampling only when there is a visible...Understanding Drivers of Cyanotoxin Production in the Lake Okeechobee Waterway
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other researchers combined field and laboratory approaches in two studies to understand the factors that drive cyanobacterial bloom development and associated cyanotoxin production in Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie River and Estuary, and the Indian River Lagoon in response to the large-scale Lake Okeechobee cyanobacteria bloom in 2016.Understanding Associations between Mussel Productivity and Cyanotoxins in Lake Erie
Study findings indicate that cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins were not associated with mussel mortality at the concentrations present in Lake Erie during a recent study (2013-15), but mussel growth was lower at sites with greater microcystin concentrations.New Method Developed to Quantify Spatial Extent of Cyanobacterial Blooms
This study provides a method for quantifying changes in the spatial extent of cyanobacterial blooms at local and regional scales using remotely sensed data to determine if bloom occurrence and size are increasing or decreasing for inland water resources.Cyanobacteria from 2016 Lake Okeechobee Harmful Algal Bloom Photo-Documented
New report provides photographic documentation and identification of the cyanobacteria present in Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River, and St. Lucie Canal during an extensive algal bloom in 2016.Evaluating Linkages Between Algal Toxins and Human Health
The amino acid β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is produced by cyanobacteria and has been suggested by human health researchers as a causal factor for degenerative neurological diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinsonism, and dementia. An objective review concluded that this hypothesis is not supported by existing data. - Publications
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