Speakers: Brian Fulfrost, Brian Fulfrost and Associates and Dan Sobota, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Topic: Monitoring & Early Detection of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in Oregon from Space: Case Study of Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities. 

Increasing public concern has prompted research on how to improve detection, management, and reduction of harmful algal blooms (HAB) in Oregon. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DRQ) has developed an online tool to display estimates of cyanobacteria abundance from April to October for 49 large lakes and reservoirs in Oregon. The cyanobacteria counts are based on methods developed by the US EPA CyAN project using imagery from the Sentinel 3 satellite. The tool calculates the seven-day average daily maximum cell count for each waterbody and those that have counts >100,000 cells/mL according to World Heath Organization guidelines.  For flagged waterbodies, DEQ reaches out to regional managers to collect on-the-ground information as a basis for recommending toxin sampling or issuance of health advisories. Although the tool has successfully expanded the state’s ability to monitor HABs, an ongoing challenge is using in situ data to assess how well the satellite imagery is capturing the timing and magnitude of toxin-producing cyanobacteria bloom. Another important challenge is extending the monitoring to smaller lakes and rivers throughout the state using higher resolution imagery from satellites like Sentinel-2. We will provide an overview of the online tool (https://rstudioconnect.deq.state.or.us/Oregon-cyanobacteria-satellite-report/) and discuss the challenges and opportunities to improve the application of these methods.