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August
28, 2007
NASA AND NOAA PARTNER TO MONITOR
ALGAE IN
GREAT LAKES
Cleveland
- Researchers at NASA's Glenn
Research
Center have
teamed up with the NOAA
Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), Ann Arbor, Mich., to monitor harmful
algae in the western basin
of Lake Erie
and Saginaw
Bay in Lake Huron.
Over the next several weeks, researchers from Glenn and GLERL will use
a
remote-sensing system mounted on a Lear jet to examine algae blooms.
A harmful algae bloom can be a dynamic event. It can form, spread and
then
disappear within a 4 to 8 week time period in late summer. It is a
concern for
human health, fish and wildlife because they commonly contain
Microcystis, a
blue-green algae that can contain the toxin, microcystin. In the Great Lakes, one of the most
common forms of microcystin
is Microcystin-LR, which also happens to be one of the most toxic.
Algae blooms in Lake Erie
are monitored and
recorded using a suite of optical instruments. The suite of instruments
includes a hyper-spectral imager designed and built by Glenn
researchers and
miniature spectrometers originally designed by Glenn to characterize
dust on
Mars.
A hyper-spectral imager is a high resolution scientific camera that can
capture
a large number of images from across the light spectrum with very fine
resolution. A spectrometer is an instrument used to measure the
intensity of
light at different wavelengths. Each substance in the lake has a
different
spectroscopic signature, which like a finger print, can be used as an
identifier. By improving the capability to remotely identify these
signatures,
researchers can improve their ability to predict the formation of a
bloom and
its impact on water quality.
"Our partnership with NOAA allows us to utilize and test instruments
that
we might need for future space exploration projects," said John Lekki,
an
optical systems research engineer at Glenn. "It is always gratifying
when
our work helps make things better here on Earth especially in our own
back yard."
Satellite imagery has been used to detect and map potentially harmful
algae but
clear skies cannot be guaranteed in every pass over the monitored area.
In some
cases it could be days before a harmful algae bloom is identified.
Airborne
measurements complement satellite monitoring by allowing researchers to
take to
the skies quickly even when high cloud cover obscures satellite
observation.
"Because of the toxicity there is a need for the blooms to be quickly
detected and to be continually monitored so that early warning can be
issued to
municipal water intakes, lakeshore beaches and other stakeholders,"
said
George Leshkevich, a physical scientist at GLERL.
The first phase of testing ended in the fall of 2006, with analysis of
the data
continuing through September of 2007.
For more information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/great_lakes_algae.html
##
Contact:
Sallie A. Keith
Glenn Research
Center
216-433-5795
sallie.keith@nasa.gov
This text is derived from:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/pressrel/2007/07-032_Algae_Monitoring.html
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