Results

The demonstration program verified the usefulness of space-based SeaWiFS data for monitoring G. breve in the Gulf of Mexico. The correspondence between SeaWiFS data on chlorophyll concentrations¹ and cell concentrations of G. breve determined from ship samples suggests that satellite imagery may be useful for early detection and tracking of these harmful algal blooms (HABs). The use of SeaWiFS data to identify bloom locations and track population movements allows more extensive collection of in situ samples from appropriate locations, thus augmenting more costly and less effective sampling approaches. The program has transitioned into an operational effort: States identify a potential bloom event, NOAA’s Coast Watch Program collects relevant SeaWiFS data, NOAA scientists analyze the data, and the states redirect their sampling accordingly. The program has also identified an apparent relationship between bloom events and climate. There are indications that an absence of blooms during some years and an abundance in others might be linked to large-scale weather patterns, such as El Niño and La Niña events. Improved coordination is essential to ensure that the findings of the demonstration project are transmitted to partners in the states. Efficient, cost-effective, and understandable communication of reports on HABs is integral to the success of efforts at the local level to monitor HABs.

Barriers

Barriers to the development of applications included confusion about access to and distribution of SeaWiFs data; competition among partners and institutional barriers; costs and difficulties in coordinating a multiagency, multistate project; and development of an effective means, perhaps modeled after the daily weather reports, to communicate HAB reports to a state user.