Best practices developed to advance use of satellite imagery for inland HABs monitoring

SCCWRP and its partners have developed best-practices guidance for using satellite imagery data as a routine management tool to detect and monitor harmful algal blooms (HABs) in California’s large lakes and reservoirs.

The guidance, which was drafted in October by a SCCWRP-facilitated technical advisory committee, offers quality-assurance safeguards to help improve management confidence in satellite imaging data as a decision-making tool.

Satellite remote sensing data have the potential to provide a viable, cost-effective way to generate a continuous stream of real-time HABs monitoring data. In 2022, SCCWRP and its partners successfully used satellite imaging data to build a comprehensive portrait of when and where HABs have been occurring in California’s large lakes and reservoirs over a five-year period.

The HABs guidance document is expected to be published in early 2025 as a SCCWRP technical report.