ShellEye: Satellite-based monitoring of harmful algal blooms and water quality for aquaculture farms

1. Satellite-based monitoring of
harmful algal blooms and water
quality for aquaculture farms
Peter Miller and colleagues
Deeper than Plastic: Issues for the marine environment
21 Nov. 2018, Plymouth

2. shelleye.org
Satellite monitoring for aquaculture
• Satellite discrimination of harmful algal blooms
• Applications for aquaculture industry:
– Scottish salmon farms
– ShellEye project on shellfish monitoring
– PRIMROSE project on HAB forecasting
• River plumes as pollution pathways
• Monitoring water quality

3. shelleye.org
Karenia mikimotoi &
Noctiluca scintillans in
English Channel (20 Jul 2000)
Examples of harmful algal blooms
• Early warning for fish farming and aquaculture
Chattonella verruculosa in
North Sea (11 May 2000)
Chattonella killed 350 tons
of Norwegian farmed
salmon in 1998
Karenia killed 500,000
Shetland salmon
in 2001

4. shelleye.org
Example bulletin for Scottish fish farms
Chlorophyll-a
Enhanced colour
5 10 20 30 mg
Traffic-light map
= Dense bloom

5. shelleye.org
Ocean colour HAB discrimination
Ocean colour scenes
R Stats
Multivariate analysisClassifier
-9.0 -3.2 2.6 8.4
-9.0
-3.2
2.6
Manual training
No
Bloom
HAB
Harmless
algae
Training samples
Reflectance
Absorption
Backscatter
Ocean properties

6. shelleye.org
Weekly HAB risk maps of
Karenia mikimotoi algal bloom in
the Western English Channel in
summer 2010
Phaeocystis globosa bloom in the
Southern North Sea in spring 2003
Discrimination of harmful algal blooms
- HAB risk - harmless - no bloom - not classified
Kurekin, A.A., Miller, P.I. & Woerd, H.J.V.D. (2014) Satellite discrimination of Karenia mikimotoi and Phaeocystis harmful algal blooms in
European coastal waters: merged classification of ocean colour data. Harmful Algae.
20-26 Jun. 2010
09-15 Mar. 2003
HAB risk
Lower risk
No bloom
Unknown

7. shelleye.org
Satellite monitoring for early warning of water
quality risks to aquaculture farms
• Satellite-based harmful algal bloom
monitoring for shellfish farms;
• Develop capability for short term
forecasting of biotoxins and E. coli;
• Combine these into a pilot water
quality bulletin for aquaculture industry.
Earth
observation
sensors
Shellfish bulletin service
HABs and plumesHAB risk
Lower risk
No bloom
Unknown
Persistent
cloud
Key
Scotland
HAB risk
Fal Estuary
River plumes from
suspended sediment
concentration
Met data
In situ sampling
and buoys
River
flows
Currents
WP1
West
Scotland
South
Cornwall
Menai
Strait
Morecambe
Bay
shelleye.org
shelleye@pml.ac.uk

8. shelleye.org
3,013,000 cells/L
North of Norwich, 26 Jun 2013
Fowey, 11 Sep 2012
328,000 cells/L
Pseudo-nitzchia maps vs. Food Standards Agency cell counts
Extend HAB classifier to species affecting shellfish

9. shelleye.org
Higher resolution ocean colour
VIIRS 1km resolution Sentinel-3 OLCI 300m resolution
Chlorophyll-a composite 27 Feb. to 05 Mar. 2018

10. shelleye.org
RGB map
HAB classifier at higher resolution
Chl-a map
HAB risk map

11. shelleye.org
HAB risk maps in ShellEye bulletin
Wind
Currents

12. shelleye.org
2015 2016
Long-term HAB risk: Karenia mikimotoi
Number of weeks where bulletin would show HAB risk.
2011-2017

13. shelleye.org
River plumes are pollution pathways
10 Jun. 2015 Landsat-8
Suspended sediment
Fal Estuary
30 Sep. 2015 Landsat-8
Suspended sediment
St Austell Bay
Los Angeles, US
3 km
Synthetic Aperture Radar image

14. shelleye.org
Pros and cons of satellites for HABs
• Pros
– Operational pair of 300m ocean colour sensors;
– Certain high biomass HABs can be discriminated;
– Clear benefits for salmon farming;
– Combine satellite and modelling to overcome limitations.
• Cons
– Research to improve monitoring for shellfish farming;
– Cannot discriminate key HABs – low concentration toxic;
– Cloud cover limitation.

15. shelleye.org
European project on forecasting HABs
• Satellite HAB risk maps for Karenia and
Pseudo-nitzschia
• Model forecast of satellite-detected blooms

16. shelleye.org
Eutrophication
Eutrophication: the enrichment of water by nutrients causing
an accelerated growth of algae to produce an undesirable
disturbance to the balance of organisms in the water and to the
quality of the water.
OSPAR Problem Areas

17. shelleye.org
Chlorophyll a
90th percentile
(mg m-3 Mar.–Oct.)
Above these
levels in each
zone are
deemed to be
eutrophic
Bloom indicator 29 August – 04 Sept 2009.
High Chl a detected in
indicator product.
Chl a map
Eutrophication indicator from satellite

18. shelleye.org
04 Nov. 2013
Landsat-8
Gratuitous high resolution satellite image

19. shelleye.org
Satellite monitoring for aquaculture
• ShellEye project is applying
satellite monitoring to shellfish
(and finfish) aquaculture;
• Certain harmful algal blooms
(and eutorophication) can be
discriminated using ocean colour;
• Satellite data on river plumes can
indicate pollution risk;
• Subscription service for 2019.
pim@pml.ac.uk shelleye.org Video: tinyurl.com/shelleye

20. shelleye.org
Extra slides

21. shelleye.org
HAB species and bloom regions
21
Pseudochattonella
sp.
Phaeocystis globosa
Karenia mikimotoi,
Pseudo-nitzschia
spp.
Karenia mikimotoi
Noctiluca scintillans
L. polyedrum
Pseudo-nitzschia,
Skeletonema,
Dactyliosolen
fragilissimus,

22. shelleye.org
Discrimination of Phaeocystis globosa HAB
Evolution of Phaeocystis bloom in the Southern North Sea, spring 2003
HAB classification maps
6 March 15 March
20 May 31 May
16 April
28 April
- HAB risk - harmless - no bloom - not classified

23. shelleye.org
Satellite water quality parameters
Water quality parameters for Water Framework Directive:
• Phytoplankton biomass (Chlorophyll-a),
• Phytoplankton identification & enumeration,
• Nutrients (Winter concentration),
• Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN),
• Dissolved Oxygen (DO),
• Temperature,
• Salinity,
• Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) / Turbidity,
• Dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP).

24. shelleye.org
Satellite water quality parameters
Water quality parameters for Water Framework Directive:
• Phytoplankton biomass (Chlorophyll-a),
• Phytoplankton identification & enumeration,
• Nutrients (Winter concentration),
• Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN),
• Dissolved Oxygen (DO),
• Temperature,
• Salinity (very coarse 100km resolution),
• Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) / Turbidity,
• Dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP).
Plus
• Water transparency (light attenuation coefficient).
Parameters available
from satellite

25. shelleye.org
Sentinel-3 latest ocean colour sensor
Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) Launch 16 Feb. 2016
20 Oct. 2016: Operational
Level 1 data, 300m resolution

26. shelleye.org
Distance weighting – 0.0Distance weighting – 0.3Distance weighting – 0.5Distance weighting – 0.7Distance weighting – 1.0
Plume-weighted E. coli map
Falmouth
Closeness to source
Plume-weighted E Coli risk
(For hypothetical high E coli forecast)
High-resolution satellite
Sentinel-2 or Landsat-8, 10 to 30m