title: A Multiscale Mapping Assessment of Lake Champlain Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms.
abstract: Lake Champlain has bays undergoing chronic cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms that pose a public health threat. Monitoring and assessment tools need to be developed to support risk decision making and to gain a thorough understanding of bloom scales and intensities. In this research application, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Rapid Eye, and Proba Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) images were obtained while a corresponding field campaign collected in situ measurements of water quality. Models including empirical band ratio regressions were applied to map chlorophylla and phycocyanin concentrations; all sensors performed well with R² and root-mean-square error (RMSE) ranging from 0.76 to 0.88 and 0.42 to 1.51, respectively. The outcomes showed spatial patterns across the lake with problematic bays having phycocyanin concentrations >25 μg/L. An alert status metric tuned to the current monitoring protocol was generated using modeled water quality to illustrate how the remote sensing tools can inform a public health monitoring system. Among the sensors utilized in this study, Landsat 8 OLI holds the most promise for providing exposure information across a wide area given the resolutions, systematic observation strategy and free cost.
authors.affiliation: Applied Geosolutions, Newmarket, New Hampshire, NH 03857, USA. ntorbick@appliedgeosolutions.com.|Department of Neurology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, NH 03755, USA. ntorbick@appliedgeosolutions.com.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Torbick
authors.affiliation: Applied Geosolutions, Newmarket, New Hampshire, NH 03857, USA. mcorbiere@appliedgeosolutions.com.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corbiere
mesh_terms: D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D057097:Harmful Algal Bloom / Q000502:physiology*; D060106:Lakes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D060753:Water Quality
keywords: Lake Champlain; Landsat 8 OLI; Proba CHRIS; RapidEye; chlorophyll-a; cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms; phycocyanin; water quality