Satellites used to map Lake Erie blooms and plumes
Ann Arbor, MI — Lake Erie is well known for its turbid waters and is prone to recurring algal blooms. Adequate ground based monitoring of lake water quality is logistically difficult and expensive. Satellite sensors offer inexpensive and frequent observations of the lakes that can be readily interpreted in terms of water quality and clarity. Scientists from Environment Canada’s Water Science and Technology Directorate have developed a method that allows satellite imagery from NASA’s MODIS sensor to monitor and map algal blooms and mineral sediment plumes in Lake Erie. Derived imagery has been used to monitor seasonal cycles of both algal blooms and mineral particulate matter on the lake and determine areas of persistently elevated concentrations that may highlight regions of potential water quality concern.
"The colour of Lake Erie is determined by materials dissolved and suspended within the water (such as algal cells, mineral sediment particles) and it is this colour signal that we measure from satellite sensors." describes Caren Binding, a research scientist with Environment Canada. "We have developed appropriate models to disentangle the colour signal to retrieve water quality information on Lake Erie and have produced a comprehensive assessment of lake wide water quality trends and spatial maps".
Original Publication Information
Results of this study, "An analysis of MODIS-derived algal and mineral turbidity in Lake Erie," are reported by C. E. Binding, T. A. Greenberg and R. P. Bukata in Volume 38, No. 1, of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2012.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Caren Binding, Environment Canada, Aquatic Ecosystems Management Research Division, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6; Caren.Binding@ec.gc.ca, (905) 336-4721.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; jglr@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.