EMERGING TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR A HARMFUL ALGALBLOOM (HAB) OBSERVING SYSTEM
Dr. Tiffany A. Moisan and Wayne Wright, NASA/Wallops Flight Center, Code 972, Wallops
Island, VA. 23337
The occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) is increasing in frequency and severity in many
coastal environments worldwide. HABs can also cause a variety of illnesses in humans, ranging from mild
reactions to death. In addition to risks to human health and environmental impact, significant economic
losses occur in aquaculture, fisheries, and tourism. A critical problem that faces coastal managers andscientists is the limited spatial and temporal sampling of HABs to allow for accurate and near real-timedetection. This is a critical gap in our knowledge of HABs in order to solve real-world solutions to apotentially damaging situation.
Unfortunately, HABs are increasing worldwide at alarming rates ofproliferation. The HAB problem is now widespread and serious. HABs contaminate and destroy coastal
resources, the livelihoods of local residents are threatened
and the sustenance of the human population is copromised.
The objective of this proposal is to develop a harmful
algal bloom system that addresses the immediate needsof coastal communities. In this proposal, we seek todevelop aircraft for the monitoring of harmful algal
blooms. Our aircraft instrumentation will serve toincrease the temporaland spatial distribution of HAB
detection. At NASA, we have developed a unique aircraft
platform through Director Discretionary Funds. The
aircraft platform addresses a unique temporal and spatial
scale which present Ocean Color satellites cannot address.
Our approach is both unique and novel because it bridgesthe gap between shipboard sampling which is labor
intensive and wide spatial sampling of ocean color
satellite remote sensing. We have recently developed thecapability of monitoring harmful algal blooms with acompact hyperspectral uplooking and downlooking
spectroradiometer mounted on a Twin Otter aircraft. In
addition, we have coupled a CCD array digital cameraand Heimann infrared radiometer to measure sea surface
temperature. Flying at an altitude of 500 meters willallow for rapid surveys of coastal waters. The ability tofly over the bloom with high temporal and spatial
coverage will allow for an accurate assesment of thecause and distribution of these highly episodic events.
The ability to acquire hyperspectral ocean color data, sea
surface temperature data, and real color imaging is aninnovative technique to monitoring HABs.
Aircraft are a unique platform to monitor and understand the dynamics of harmful algal blooms.
Because we fly at a relatively low altitude, HABs can be monitored continuously and the concentrations ofblooms do not have an atmospheric correction. We are able to capture much finer resolution thanconventional satellites. We are able to acquire data at a rate of 100-200 m resolution in addition to capturing
important temporal events such as tidal forcing, diel migration, and daily advection by currents. Because
satellites have only one overpass per day, they are not able to capture these critical areas in harmful algal
bloom research which are necessary in understanding the ecology and oceanography of harmful algal
blooms. The feasibility and utility of this platform is ideal for application to harmful algal bloom detection
due to its 1) low cost; 2) ability to telemeter data in real time; and 3) its ability to sense out phytoplankton
patches using a suite of bio-optical sensors. The demonstration of aircraft has broad applications to theJapanese economy because our instrumentation is easily accessible and has applications for fisheries tobecome aware of these HAB scenarios in real time.