Mobile Device Application for Monitoring Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms Using Sentinel-3 Satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instruments T
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Environmental Modelling and Software 109 (2018) 93–103 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Modelling & Software journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envsoft Mobile device application for monitoring cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms using Sentinel-3 satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instruments T ∗ Blake A. Schaeffera, , Sean W. Baileyb, Robyn N. Conmyc, Michael Galvind, Amber R. Ignatiuse, John M. Johnstond, Darryl J. Keithf, Ross S. Lunettaa, Rajbir Parmard, Richard P. Stumpfg, Erin A. Urquharth, P. Jeremy Werdellb, Kurt Wolfed a National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA b Ocean Ecology Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA c National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA d National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA, 30605, USA e University of North Georgia, Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis, Oakwood, GA, 30566, USA f National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, RI, 02882, USA g National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Silver Spring, MD, USA h Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Engineering (ORISE), National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA, 30605, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHAB) cause human and ecological health problems in lakes Satellite worldwide. The timely distribution of satellite-derived cyanoHAB data is necessary for adaptive water quality Water quality management and for targeted deployment of water quality monitoring resources. Software platforms that permit Mobile device application timely, useful, and cost-effective delivery of information from satellites are required to help managers respond to Harmful algal bloom cyanoHABs. The Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) mobile device application (app) uses data from the Cyanobacteria European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) in near real- time to make initial water quality assessments and quickly alert managers to potential problems and emerging threats related to cyanobacteria. App functionality and satellite data were validated with 25 state health ad- visories issued in 2017. The CyAN app provides water quality managers with a user-friendly platform that reduces the complexities associated with accessing satellite data to allow fast, efficient, initial assessments across lakes. 1. Introduction et al., 2009). CyanoHABs may produce toxins and cause nuisance odors, hypoxia, unappealing surface scums, undesirable finished drinking 1.1. Human and ecological health problems from cyanobacterial harmful water, increased drinking water treatment costs, and economic and algal blooms infrastructure costs such as loss of revenue from recreation and busi- nesses that rely on appealing or potable water (Dodds et al., 2009; Water quality is a critical consideration in determining water re- Steffensen, 2008). New tools are needed to facilitate the development of source availability for human consumption, aquatic life, and recreation reliable and cost-effective monitoring programs at lake, watershed, (U.S. EPA, 2013). Harmful algal blooms are environmental events that state, regional, and national scales. occur when algal or cyanobacterial populations impact water quality and result in negative environmental or health consequences (Smayda, 1.2. Management need 1997). Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHAB) occur world- wide and have been documented across the United States (Loftin et al., Many U.S. states experience challenges in developing cyanoHAB 2016). U.S. states frequently issue health advisories or close recrea- monitoring programs because of the need to cover large geographic tional areas due to potential risks from cyanoHAB exposure (Graham areas with insufficient resources. A single management agency often ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: schaeff[email protected] (B.A. Schaeffer). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.08.015 Received 14 March 2018; Received in revised form 17 August 2018; Accepted 18 August 2018 Available online 18 August 2018 1364-8152/ Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/). ff B.A. Schae er et al. Environmental Modelling and Software 109 (2018) 93–103 decision making. Software availability Two primary scientific software packages traditionally are used for satellite data processing and analysis related to water quality satellite Software name Cyanobacterial Assessment Network (CyAN) missions. The U.S. software package is the National Aeronautics and Developers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Space Administration (NASA) Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor Research and Development (SeaWiFS) Data Analysis System (SeaDAS) (Baith et al., 2001), an open- Contact information Mike Galvin, [email protected] source and free software package. SeaDAS is a comprehensive software Alternative contact John M. Johnston, johnston,[email protected] package for the processing, display, analysis, and quality control of a Hardware required Smartphone wide array of satellite data. While the primary focus of SeaDAS has Software required Android 4.1 and above historically been ocean color data, it is applicable to other satellite- Program language JAVA and Python based earth science data analyses, such as inland and coastal water Availability and cost Currently available to US Departments of quality data. The European software package is the SeNtinel Applica- Health and Departments of Environment state agencies tion Platform (SNAP) available from the European Space Agency. SNAP upon request. No cost also is an open-source platform and focuses on the exploitation of earth observation data. Both software packages are desktop computer-based and require oversees numerous isolated lakes scattered across a large landscape. some scientific knowledge in the field of ocean color remote sensing as Water quality monitoring efforts also are constrained by the availability well as sufficient computer hardware to handle the satellite images and of personnel and limited financial resources, presenting managers with processing capabilities. In addition, computer code language expertise, a serious challenge in prioritizing water quality sampling regimes to typically in JAVA or Python, is beneficial to batch process large num- best monitor dispersed waterbodies. Water quality managers need ac- bers of satellite files. These software packages produce derived water cess to timely and consistent data to protect the designated and bene- quality products such as cyanoHAB abundance. However, the software ficial uses of water. Satellites can provide such data. to date is not developed for repeated, intuitive, and rapid assessment of Although satellite data has been available for a number of years, inland waters for cyanoHAB monitoring by a diverse variety of water historically, few management decisions have been based on satellite quality managers and stakeholders. Therefore, alternative software information because data dissemination to water quality managers has solutions are necessary to reduce the data access limitations and to been limited to either photographs or file-formatted products that re- reduce required management programmatic support (Schaeffer et al., quire specialized training to process images and interpret data. 2013) for satellite-derived data on cyanoHABs. Managers would substantially benefit from software that reduces the barrier of accessing satellite data to facilitate better public and en- 1.4. Mobile device application solution vironmental health protection of water bodies. Timely and effective distribution of satellite-derived data is necessary to provide warnings Unlike previous software packages, a mobile device application within days and seasonal assessments in the same calendar year. (app) would reduce the need for scientific expertise in ocean color in- Managers responding to the immediate impacts of cyanoHABs need terpretation and hardware requirements associated with the use of sa- timely, useful, and cost-effective delivery of information from the sa- tellite data. An app would provide intuitive ability through a graphical tellite data (Schaeffer et al., 2013). user interface (GUI) to scan water bodies for changes in cyanoHAB Satellite remote sensing technology provides an ability to assess abundance without expertise in computer programming or computer cyanoHAB abundance for spatially resolvable inland recreational and languages. Georeferenced data would allow managers to monitor their public water supplies using algal pigments as surrogates for HAB and particular water bodies of interest without having to filter through cyanoHAB abundance at sufficient spatial-temporal resolution to detect numerous satellite images of water bodies not associated with their changes. In particular, the European Space Agency Copernicus program region. Managers could set query thresholds to identify if cyanoHAB provides a new series of Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instruments abundance exceeds a