Reliable remote sensing platforms and methods for monitoring phytoplankton are needed for mitigating the detrimental impacts of harmful cyanobacterial blooms on small inland waterbodies. Commercial, unoccupied aerial systems (UASs, or drones) present an affordable high-resolution solution for the rapid assessment of cyanobacterial abundance in small aquatic systems by recording the reflectance of photosynthetic pigments found in all phytoplankton (i.e., chlorophyll a) and those related to cyanobacteria (i.e., phycocyanin). This talk will expand on a study published in Limnology and Oceanography: Methods titled “Commercially available unoccupied aerial systems for monitoring harmful algal blooms: A comparative study” in which we evaluated the performance of four sensors, including visible light spectra (red, green, blue - [RGB]) sensors on the Phantom 4 and Phantom 4 Professional platforms, the MAPIR Survey3W modified multispectral (i.e., near-infrared, green, blue) sensor, and the Parrott Sequoia multispectral (i.e., green, red, near-infrared, red-edge) sensor for estimating cyanobacterial abundance. We will discuss why we chose these sensors, how we evaluated our results, what we would have done differently, and which sensors and processing methods work best based on funding and the size and trophic state of the waterbody.

Primary Presenter: Edna Fernandez-Figueroa, Auburn University (egf0013@auburn.edu)

Authors:

Edna Fernandez-Figueroa, Auburn University   (egf0013@auburn.edu)

Alan Wilson, Auburn University   ()

Stephanie Rogers, Auburn University   ()