Phytoplankton Monitoring and Mapping Using Satellite Data Products For Urban Waters Ecosystems

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are an ongoing concern to coastal communities and public health. Not only can the indication of the occurrence of HABs be helpful to the blue economy that relies on the health of marine ecosystems, but HABs also indicate signs of eutrophication, runoff sites, and how weather events impact coastal communities. Through my research, HABs have been monitored within the New York City waterbodies, including Randall’s Island and the Gowanus Canal. This project collaborates with the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)- the National Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) which began in 2001 and is a community-based network of volunteers monitoring marine phytoplankton in bodies of water throughout the East Coast. The primary study area selected was the Gowanus Canal in Red Hook, Brooklyn in New York City. The EPA deemed the Gowanus Canal a superfund site in 2010 due to its high contamination levels from runoff and combined sewage overflow. Regular water quality analysis tests were conducted to measure the presence of nitrates, ammonium, and phosphate within the sample sites to create a suite of in-situ data on water quality. The outcome of this research is to develop an interactive web-based mapping tool that will combine the in-situ data and NOAA’s satellite-based data products to enable real-time ecosystem observations that can benefit the regional and local communities, city officials, and natural resource managers, to help monitor and support the local urban water bodies and thus contribute to better ecosystem health monitoring.

Primary Presenter: Carolina Perez, City College of New York CUNY (cperez011@citymail.cuny.edu)

Authors:

Carolina Perez, CUNY City College of New York  (cperez011@citymail.cuny.edu)

Nia Rene, NOAA Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)  (nia.rene@noaa.gov)

Shakila Merchant, The City College of New York CUNY  (smerchant@ccny.cuny.edu)

Maria Tzortziou, The City College of New York CUNY  (mtzortziou@ccny.cuny.edu)

Jennifer Cherrier, Brooklyn College CUNY  (jennifercherrier@gmail.com)