NASA Investigates Ohio's Harmful Algae

NASA experts at the Glenn Research Center (GRC) are using technology intended for Mars exploration to take a closer look at the Lake Erie algal bloom. That's the very same bloom that ruined water supplies in the Ohio area, causing the state's governor to declare a state of emergency in some counties.

A flight campaign of the GRC's S-3 Aircraft began today, deploying a hyper-spectral imager and set of miniature spectrometers tasked with revealing the extent of Lake Erie's harmful algae bloom (HAB). NASA experts will be collaborating with the NOAA's Environmental Research Laboratory and the Naval Research Laboratory to capture detailed imaging and data on western Lake Erie in particular.

NASA's John Lekki, of the GRC, said that he and his colleagues hope to identify biochemical properties of HABs that can help them better predict where and when they will form.

According to Lekki, "fresh water is one of Earth's most precious commodities," and being able to better predict HABs will allow officials to better confront their "significant environmental and human health threat."

So what's so harmful about algae blooms? Certain species of blue-green algae tend to release a cyanotoxin when they bloom that can be harmful to humans and sea-life in high enough concentrations.  Unfortunately, excessive runoff from long winters and rainy springs  - like the one the Great Lakes just experienced - can set up for ideal silt conditions for algal growth by summer. These conditions have not only caused problems for the Great Lakes, but the East Coast as well, where New York state alone issued health warnings for 50 different lakes and ponds last year.

According to NASA, the space agency and the NOAA currently take satellite imagery of HABs to gather data, but aircraft surveillance may prove more useful, as there is less of a chance that data will be obscured by weather patterns and other interference.

"NOAA, NASA and the US Naval Research Lab have the expertise and resources uniquely suited to tackle this issue," said George Leshkevich, a physical scientist with the NOAA. "Getting this higher resolution data on Lake Erie will help us better understand the characteristics of the current bloom and improve our satellite detection methods to pinpoint where and when future blooms will occur."

The agency plans to share this unique data with the global community once the analysis is complete.