NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States' Geological Survey will work together on a project worth $3.6 million to be able to perform forecasting and monitoring of the freshwater, toxic algal blooms through the use of an advanced satellite technology.
All four agencies are planning to use the color data of ocean satellite in order to build information distribution and early warning systems for both animals and people against the hazards of toxic algae-related bodies of water, NASA published Tuesday.
Paula Bontempi, NASA Earth Science program officer, said "Observations from space-based instruments are an ideal way to tackle this type of public health hazard because of their global coverage and ability to provide detailed information on material in the water, including algal blooms."
Data from the ocean color satellite of NASA's Aqua, the UK Space Agency's Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-2, and the USGS-NASA Landsat is now available to scientists; however, these are not routinely produced and processed in formats that can aid the local and state water and environmental quality managers, the Phys reported.
Charles Bodlen, NASA Administrator proudly shared "We are extremely excited to share the expertise of NASA in scientific and space exploration to work to be able to protect public safety and health."
The environmental causes and health effects of phytoplankton viruses and cyanobacteria will also be covered by the project.
All government researchers will attempt to identify land activities that present disturbances on both the intensity and frequency of algae blooms through setting comparisons on land cover modifications.
The results of the monitoring will be prepared into a format that people can utilize through web portals and mobile devices.