Measuring Great Lake Processes and Water Quality from Space!
Ann Arbor, MI — Researchers have developed a new method for measuring large-scale changes of organic and inorganic substances and detecting episodic events in the Great Lakes. Using satellite images to detect changes in the amount of these substances over time, changes in lake processes and events can be documented and used to predict the future status of the Great Lakes.
This new method determines the amount of phytoplankton chlorophyll, dissolved organic carbon and suspended minerals in the lake water using measurements of light reflected from the lake surface to the satellite. Most previously used methods only determined the amount of chlorophyll, and were not as accurate because they did not evaluate the effect of dissolved organic carbon and suspended minerals on the reflection of incoming light.
"We have documented the relationships among chlorophyll, dissolved organic carbon and suspended minerals retrieved from satellite data and coincident environmental observations." Says Robert Shuchman, Vice President and Technical Director of the Environmental Group at Altarum Institute. "These relationships were then used to speculate on the future of Lake Michigan under a set of climate change scenarios."
By viewing and studying images that represent the target concentrations, scientists can detect the appearance of important lake events, such as resuspension of sediments that occurs every spring in Lake Michigan. Changes in the timing of appearance and severity of these events can be related to changes in the ecology and climate of the entire Lake system.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study "Verification and Application of a Bio-optical Algorithm for Lake Michigan Using SeaWiFS: a 7-year Inter-annual Analysis," are reported by Robert Shuchman, Anton Korosov, Charles Hatt, Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Jay Means and Guy Meadows in the latest issue (Volume 32, No. 2, pp. 258-279) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by the International Association for Great Lakes Research, 2006.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Robert Shuchman, Altarum Institute, 3520 Green Court, Suite 300, Ann Arbor MI, 48105; robert.shuchman@altarum.org; (734) 302-4600.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; editor@iaglr.org; (608) 692-1076.
Links
Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.