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Satellite Remote Sensing for Monitoring and Assessment

Group on Earth ObservationsJune 12, 2014

Blake Schaeffer, Ph.D.Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Research and DevelopmentNational Exposure Research Laboratory

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Outline

• Barriers

• Numeric criteria

• Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN)

• Future directions

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Barriers• Cost

– Satellite imagery only obtained with financial commitment

– Personnel and resources required to process the data

• Product Accuracy – Concern of accuracy and error estimates – Less concern regarding the error with

standard in situ measurements • Data Continuity

– Mission continuity was relevant to investment

• Programmatic support – Buy-in and support from organizational

management was important. Source: Schaeffer et al. IJRS 2013. 34:7534-7544

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Numeric criteria

• EPA Administrator determined that “new or revised numeric standards are necessary” to address nutrients

• Related consent decree calls for two-phase rulemaking

– Inland waters rule– Estuarine/Coastal and South Florida Rule

• Final rulemaking - November 2012

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Numeric criteria• Best available data

– Compiled data for Florida waters

• Scientific rationale– Use the latest scientific knowledge

• General water body classifications– Estuaries– Coastal Waters– Southern Inland Flowing Waters and Marine Waters

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• Reference condition

– Water body currently minimally impacted by nutrients and supporting

natural populations

• Coastal chlorophyll – No trend in chlorophyll from 1998-2009– Slope not significantly different from zero (p>0.05)

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FP (p=0.42)WFS (p=0.34)AC (p=0.76)

Numeric criteria

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Numeric criteria

• FDEP’s Water Body Identification Numbers (WBIDs)– Start at land– Extended seaward 4 NM– Typically centered at estuary

pass– Coastal segments

Source: Schaeffer et al. ES&T 2012. 46:916-922

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Numeric criteria

• Annual geometric means of ChlRS-a in each segment were calculated using only SeaWiFS

• Criteria values were calculated from the 90th percentile, by segment, of all annual geometric means during the reference period

Source: Schaeffer et al. ES&T 2012. 46:916-922

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Numeric criteria

• Mission continuity– “…the future availability of ChlRS-a data is in doubt, particularly given

the loss of the SeaWiFS sensor.”

– “Of course there is always the issue as to whether or not satellites go off-line in the future….If satellites would go off-line…and there is no funding to put satellites in orbit to do this work than that would definitely cause some concern.”

Source: EPA-SAB-11-010

Source: Schaeffer et al. IJRS 2013. 34:7534-7544

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Numeric criteria

• SeaWiFS, MODIS, MERIS,

• VIIRS?, Sentinel-3?, PACE?, GEOCAPE?

• Field data used within ±3 hr satellite

overpass time

Source: Schaeffer et al. JARS 2013. 7: 073544-1

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Numeric criteria

• “…recurrent topic in panel discussions was the ‘missing kilometer’ at the coast...”

• NASA PACE SDT Report (2012)

Source: EPA SAB Draft Report

Source: Schaeffer et al. ES&T 2012. 46:916-922

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Numeric criteria

Source: Schaeffer et al. JARS 2013. 7: 073544-1

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Numeric criteria

• Coastal Florida Rule • Proposed rulemaking: Nov. 30, 2012• Final rulemaking: Sept. 2013

Source: Schaeffer et al. JARS 2013. 7: 073544-1

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CyAN Introduction• HABs = $2.2 billion annual freshwater degradation (Dodds et al. 2009).

• HAB and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013

• Cyanobacteria and their toxins are addressed differently by each state (Graham et al. 2009)

• Timely and useful delivery of satellite data is needed (Schaeffer et al. 2013).

Toxic algae in Hoover Reservoir cost city Choking on growth, part III

Polluted farm runoff linked to toxic green algae

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CyAN Partners and Stakeholders• Previous support

– EPA - Office of Research and Development, Pathfinder Innovation Project II– EPA - NASA Applied Science Program announcement NNH08ZDA001N – NOAA - NASA Applied Science Program announcement NNH08ZDA001N

• EPA Office of Water– Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds– Office of Wastewater Management– Office of Science and Technology

• States– Ohio EPA– St. Johns River WMD

GLNPO

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CyAN Technical Approach

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CyAN Methods

• 378,153 lakes in U.S.• ~153,000 lakes considered in 2007 National Lake Assessment

• MERIS and Sentinel-3 – 9,347 lakes w/ 3x3 300 m pixel array – 6 % of National Lakes Assessment

• Landsat – ~153,000 lakes w/ 5x5 30 m pixel array– 100% of National Lake Assessment w/ 5x5 array

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CyAN Methods

• Spatial scale – 300 x 300 m

• Temporal scales– ≤ 1-day– ± 1, 3, 5 and 7 days

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CyAN Methods

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CyAN Results

Lunetta et al. (In Review) RSE

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CyAN Results

• Cyanobacteria cell count ranges– Low (10,000–109,999)

• WHO Low-Moderate– Medium (110,000–299,999)– High (300,000–1,000,000) – Very high (>1,000,000)

Lunetta et al. (In Review) RSE

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CyAN Results

• Correspondence % (+/- 7 days)– Low = 90%– Medium = 17%– High = 35%– Very High = 83%

Lunetta et al. (In Review) RSE

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CyAN Results

Source: NOAA Coastal Ocean Science

Grand Lake St. Mary, Ohio: MERIS Cyano index 2010

Low [conc] Very High [conc]

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Crowd Source CyAN Mobile Application

• Android OS• Google Play

Schaeffer et al. (In Prep) PNAS

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Crowd Source CyAN Mobile Application

Schaeffer et al. (In Prep) PNAS

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Crowd Source CyAN Mobile Application

Schaeffer et al. (In Prep) PNAS

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Crowd Source CyAN Mobile Application

Schaeffer et al. (In Prep) PNAS

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Crowd Source Prediction Algorithm

• Now through June 28th!

• 2006 National Land Cover Database

• Water Quality Portal• National Climatic Data Center• MERIS/Sentinel-3

cyanobacteria counts

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Crowd Source Prediction Algorithm

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Crowd Source Prediction Algorithm

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Future Approach• Remote Sensing

– Uniform and systematic approach for identifying cyanobacteria blooms. – Strategy for evaluation and refinement of algorithms across platforms.

• Environment– Identify landscape linkages causes of chlorophyll-a and cyanobacteria.

• Health– Exposure and human health effects in drinking and recreational waters.

• Economics– Behavioral responses and economic value of the early warning system.

• Notifications– Bring the technology to EPA, states and tribal partners.

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Impacts• Inform and advise under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. • Complement National Aquatic Resource Surveys • Applied novel sophisticated tool to assist in management of events that may involve

significant risk to the public. • Increased use of remotely sensed water quality data to improve decision support in

EPA and state agencies • Decrease costs of monitoring, improve resource allocations, and reduce exposures