Continuous and Synoptic Assessment of Indian Inland Waters for Harmful Algae Blooms

Chintan B Maniyar; Abhishek Kumar; Deepak R Mishra

doi:10.1016/j.hal.2021.102160

Continuous and Synoptic Assessment of Indian Inland Waters for Harmful Algae Blooms

Harmful Algae. 2022 Jan:111:102160. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2021.102160. Epub 2021 Dec 10.

Authors

Chintan B Maniyar¹, Abhishek Kumar², Deepak R Mishra³

Affiliations

¹ Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Department, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), ISRO, India; Department of Geography, University of Georgia, GA, USA.
² Department of Geography, University of Georgia, GA, USA; Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA. Electronic address: akumar1@umass.edu.
³ Department of Geography, University of Georgia, GA, USA.

PMID: 35016766
DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2021.102160

Abstract

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CyanoHABs) are progressively becoming a major water quality, socioeconomic, and health hazard worldwide. In India, there are frequent episodes of severe CyanoHABs, which are left untreated due to a lack of awareness and monitoring infrastructure, affecting the economy of the country gravely. In this study, for the first time, we present a country-wide analysis of CyanoHABs in India by developing a novel interactive cloud-based dashboard called "CyanoKhoj" in Google Earth Engine (GEE) which uses Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) remotely sensed datasets. The main goal of this study was to showcase the utility of CyanoKhoj for rapid monitoring and discuss the widespread CyanoHABs problems across India. We demonstrate the utility of Cyanokhoj by including select case studies of lakes and reservoirs geographically spread across five states: Bargi and Gandhisagar Dams in Madhya Pradesh, Hirakud Reservoir in Odisha, Ukai Dam in Gujarat, Linganamakki Reservoir in Karnataka, and Pulicat Lake in Tamil Nadu. These sites were studied from September to November 2018 using CyanoKhoj, which is capable of near-real-time monitoring and country-wide assessment of CyanoHABs. We used CyanoKhoj to prepare spatiotemporal maps of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) content and Cyanobacterial Cell Density (CCD) to study the local spread of the CyanoHABs and their phenology in these waterbodies. A first-ever all-India CCD map is also presented for the year 2018, which highlights the spatial spread of CyanoHABs throughout the country (32 large waterbodies across India with severe bloom: CCD>2,500,000). Results indicate that CyanoHABs are most prevalent in nutrient-rich waterbodies prone to industrial and other nutrient-rich discharges. A clear temporal evolution of the blooms showed that they are dominant during the post-monsoon season (September-October) when the nutrient concentrations in the waterbodies are at their peak, and they begin to decline towards winter (November-December). CyanoKhoj is an open-source tool that can have a significant broader impact in mapping CyanoHABs not only throughout cyanobacteria data-scarce India, but on a global level using archived and future Sentinel-3A/B OLCI data.

Keywords: CyanoKhoj; Cyanobacteria; Google earth engine; Remote sensing; Sentinel-3; Water quality.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Cyanobacteria*
Harmful Algal Bloom*
India
Lakes / microbiology
Water Quality