Researchers Track Lake Erie Toxic Algae Blooms
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sep 13, 6:03 PM EDT
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Researchers Track Lake Erie Toxic Algae Blooms*
CLEVELAND (AP) -- NASA scientists are teaming with researchers from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor Lake Erie's
harmful algae blooms, a move that could lead to early warnings for
beachgoers and water departments.
A goal of the research is to predict when the blue-green blooms - which
adversely affect the taste of water, the health of some wildlife and the
desirability of swimming - might appear in future years.
"We want to keep an eye on how they're spreading and where they will hit
landfall," said NOAA scientist George Leskevich.
In time, that could mean a new Lake Erie early warning system - giving
municipal water departments and public beaches ample time to prepare for
and treat the arrival of the blooms that arrive late each summer.
That's important to a region where the Great Lakes are said to generate
approximately $4 billion annually in commercial and sport-fishing
business, NOAA officials said.
Researchers like Leskevich at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research
Laboratory in Michigan have been measuring the levels of microcystin -
the worst type of blue-green algae - for years in western Lake Erie.
They also notify local health departments when toxin levels exceed the
World Health Organization's recommended limit.
The seasonal blooms dogged the Great Lakes in the 1960s, until the
federal government limited the use of phosphorus in detergents and
fertilizers. After that, the algae appeared to be mostly eliminated, but
has reappeared in strength over the last decade, mostly in Lake Erie.
Scientists cite runoff from cities, fertilizers, zebra mussels, and
livestock near water supplies as probable culprits.
Until now, little has been done to predict the arrival and movement of
the algae. Finding blooms by boat can be time-consuming because of the
size of the lake.
NASA scientists aboard a streaking Lear jet loaded with high-tech,
high-resolution imaging equipment scanned Lake Erie's surface Thursday
for emerging blobs of toxic algae. Ten thousand feet below, researchers
from the NOAA skimmed those same waters, hauled in slippery samples.
The NASA and NOAA teams will crunch the data from sky and water in
coming months, creating computer models that could project the algae blooms.
NASA Glenn Research Center got involved in algae monitoring in 2000,
funding a study that revealed algae's specific "spectral signature" when
seen in satellite images.
Every plant, animal or nonliving object reflects and absorbs light
differently, and has a unique spectral signature.
But satellites pass over Lake Erie only every eight days. Researchers
need more frequent images, said John Lekki, an optical systems research
engineer at NASA Glenn.
So NASA engineers last summer teamed up with the Great Lakes
Environmental Research Laboratory to record the spectral images from the
side door of an airplane.
NOAA scientists first recorded the light-signature of blue-green algae
from their boat. NASA researchers then used that information to track
the algae as sunlight reflected off it to their airborne equipment.
"Our goal is to make remote monitoring accurate in real-time," Leskevich
said.
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On the Net:
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory:
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov
NASA Glenn Research Center: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com