Airborne hyperspectral and satellite imaging of harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes Region: Successes in sensing algal blooms

Abstract

Harmful algal blooms have become a more significant issue in recent years in many lakes and rivers, and it is a particularly significant issue in the western basin of Lake Erie. In response, several research organizations in the United States and Canada have increased their efforts to improve capabilities for the remote sensing of harmful algal blooms. Efforts are underway to improve the ability to monitor, assess and study harmful algal blooms using various remote sensing platforms. Research into improvements in remote sensing platforms and algorithms provide powerful new tools to study and understand spatial and temporal aspects of harmful algal blooms. These developing tools will also help stakeholders to assess the efficacy of harmful algal bloom mitigation efforts into the future. In this commentary we describe selected NASA, NOAA, and ECCC's ongoing research projects as well as brief descriptions on the overall goal and specific objectives of the programs. Specific results from these three agencies' investigations, including modeling efforts, are discussed in a number of papers found within a special section of this issue.