Web-based tool helps analyze, visualize inland HABs satellite monitoring data

SCCWRP and its partners have developed a web-based tool for analyzing and visualizing satellite remote sensing data sets that is intended to help managers detect and monitor harmful algal blooms (HABs) in California’s large lakes, reservoirs, and select tidal water bodies.

The tool, released in April, provides users with information on HABs status and trends across California to support a range of site-specific and regional management decisions and assessments. The tool’s development is part of ongoing efforts by the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Freshwater Harmful Algal Bloom (FHAB) Program to establish standardized approaches for assessing HABs in California’s inland water bodies.

Satellite remote sensing data have the potential to provide a viable, cost-effective way to generate a continuous stream of real-time HABs monitoring data. In 2022, SCCWRP and its partners demonstrated how to use satellite imaging data to build a comprehensive, five-year portrait of when and where HABs have been occurring in California’s large lakes and reservoirs.

Researchers plan to expand the tool by adding data on HAB environmental drivers, including water temperature and precipitation.