This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains meteorological, water temperature, light (photosynthetically active radiation and illumination), and multichannel fluorescence sensor data from the Finger Lakes Region of New York, during the fall of 2018 and the summer and fall of 2019 and 2020. It also includes all sensor data and associated discrete sample data, at the near surface (top), mid-depth (middle) and near bottom (bottom) depths. Data were collected from three Advanced Monitoring Pilot study platforms in open water at Seneca Lake (USGS station number 425027076564401), Owasco Lake (USGS station number 425327076313601), and Skaneateles Lake (USGS station number 425606076251601) in 2018 and 2019, and in Seneca Lake and Owasco Lake in 2020 The dataset includes laboratory-measured chlorophyll-a, nitrate plus nitrite, dissolved organic carbon, biovolume of cyanobacteria, biovolume of green/brown algae, biovolume of phycoerythrin-containing phytoplankton, biovolume of other phytoplankton, biovolume of total phytoplankton, and sensor-measured chlorophyll concentration from cyanobacteria, chlorophyll concentration from mixed phytoplankton, total chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll concentration from green/brown algae, percent green/brown algae, percent cyanobacteria, percent mixed phytoplankton, dissolved organic matter relative fluorescence, fluorescent dissolved organic matter concentration, water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, pH, chlorophyll relative fluorescence, fluorescent chlorophyll concentration, phycocyanin relative fluorescence, fluorescent phycocyanin concentration, orthophosphate, turbidity, nitrate plus nitrite, illumination, wind speed and direction, air temperature, precipitation and photosynthetically active radiation.

Blooms of nuisance and toxic cyanobacteria, referred to as cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cHABs), occur seasonally in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, and pose a threat to human health, affect the quality of life, and significantly degrade the ecosystem. NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR), University of Michigan, started regular water quality monitoring of Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron in 2012. Since that time the monitoring effort has expanded to incorporate additional parameters and sample locations. Physical, chemical, and biological water quality data were collected during repeated sampling trips to a set of stations before, during, and after HAB events (from May - October). Data for these discrete sampling events include: Secchi disk depth, Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD), CTD specific conductivity, CTD beam attenuation, CTD beam transmission, CTD dissolved oxygen, CTD photosynthetically active radiation, turbidity, particulate microcystin, dissolved microcystin, extracted phycocyanin, extracted chlorophyll-a, total phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, ammonia, nitrate + nitrite, urea, particulate organic carbon, particulate organic nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon, chromophoric dissolved organic material absorbance at 400 nm, total suspended solids, and volatile suspended solids. The bulk water quality parameters were analyzed via established techniques and procedures for routine water quality monitoring and analysis (APHA 1992, 1998, 2017). This research was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to support the projects “Decision Support Tools to Link Predictions to HABs and Source Water Protection”, Synthesis Observation and Response (SOAR), and Real-time Environmental Coastal Observation Network (ReCON).

Water quality data was collected by the United States Army Corp of Engineers at numerous locations along the shore of Lake Ponchartrain, Louisiana during the month of September 2019. The samples were collected repeatedly at 8 locations around the lake. The parameters collected include chlorophyll a (uncorrected), chlorophyll b, chlorophyll c1 + c2, phycocyanin, microcystin, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen percent saturation, pH, salinity, and specific conductance. These data were used to monitor the water quality of commonly used beaches and swimming areas. These data are in spreadsheet form.

The hyperspectral images in this collection contain flights over the western basin of Lake Erie, and Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron of the Great Lakes region during the HAB season from typically June until the end of October. Images were acquired from a manned aircraft with a Resonon hyperspectral imaging camera. Each flight has approximately 200-400 images along the flight trajectory that are in band interleave per pixel (.bip) or band interleave per line (.bil) format. The files are in raw binary, radiance values, and reflectance values. The resolution is typically 1 meter or less depending on the altitude that is flown. The flight path covered the Michigan and Ohio drinking water intake locations and also the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) water quality monitoring stations in western Lake Erie. Each flight took into account the solar zenith angle to minimize sun glint correction. The data are currently in raw and radiance formats that were converted to radiance using the calibration files provided by the manufacture and no other corrections have been made. The camera is sent annually to be calibrated by the manufacturer. Imagery was collected to monitor harmful algal blooms (HABs) over the western basin of Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Funding for this project was received via the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

This collection contains inputs to, and outputs from the NOAA Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Experimental Forecast for Lake Erie in the form of bulletin documents and processed satellite imagery in GeoTIFF format, beginning on 2008-09-04 and continuing to 2016-11-01. The HAB Experimental Bulletin was operated by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to develop and produce experimental forecast bulletins for cyanobacteria blooms (blue-green algae) in Lake Erie. The bulletins contain an analysis of the location of cyanobacteria blooms, forecasts of transport, mixing, scum formation and bloom decline based on the analysis of information from data providers. The bulletins are emailed to subscribers twice weekly during an active bloom. Each year, NCEI creates a new accession containing the data collected during the previous 12 months. The experimental bulletin was started in 2008 and became operational in 2017.

Water quality data was collected by the United States Army Corp of Engineers at numerous locations along the shore of Lake Ponchartrain, Louisiana during the month of September 2019. The samples were collected repeatedly at 8 locations around the lake. The parameters collected include chlorophyll a (uncorrected), chlorophyll b, chlorophyll c1 + c2, phycocyanin, microcystin, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen percent saturation, pH, salinity, and specific conductance. These data were used to monitor the water quality of commonly used beaches and swimming areas. The full description of the dataset can be found within NCEI archive data with Accession 0225522.

This dataset shows the concentration of cyanobacteria cells/ml in fresh water bodies and estuaries of the Ohio and Florida derived from 300x300 meter MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) satellite imagery. This dataset was produced through partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This cyanobacteria dataset was derived using the European Space Agency (ESA) Envisat satellite and MERIS instrument. MERIS is a 68.5 degree field-of-view nadir-pointing imaging spectrometer which measures the solar radiation reflected by the Earth in 15 spectral bands (visible and near-infrared). MERIS imagery was used to identify long-wavelength spectral bands (from red through near-infrared portion of the spectrum) to locate algal blooms within freshwaters and estuaries of the continental United States. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Clark, J., B. Schaeffer, J. Darling, E. Urquhart, J. Johnston, A. Ignatius, M. Myer, K. Loftin, J. Werdell, and R. Stumpf. Methods for Monitoring Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Frequency in Recreational Waters and Drinking Water Sources with Satellites. ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 80: 84-95, (2017).

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are overgrowths of algae or cyanobacteria in water and can be harmful to humans and animals directly via toxin exposure or indirectly via changes in water quality and related impacts to ecosystems services, drinking water characteristics, and recreation. While HABs occur frequently throughout the United States, the driving conditions behind them are not well understood, especially in flowing waters. In order to facilitate future national model development and characterization of HABs, this data release publishes a synthesized and cleaned collection of HABs-related water quality and quantity data for river and stream sites across the United States. It includes nutrients, major ions, sediment, physical properties, streamflow, chlorophyll and other types of water data. This data release contains files of harmonized data from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS). Continuous sensor data for 132 parameters (35 of which returned data) between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2022 were downloaded from NWIS programmatically. All data were harmonized into a shared format and grouped by generic parameters; data are in files named "daily_{parameter_grp}.csv", and the "pcode_group_xwalk.csv" maps parameter codes to parameter groups. Lastly, we include a "site_metadata.csv" containing site identification and location information for all sites with water quality and quantity data, and mappings to the National Hydrography Dataset flowlines where available. This work was completed as part of the USGS Proxies Project, an effort supported by the Water Mission Area (WMA) Water Quality Processes program to develop estimation methods for PFAS, harmful algal blooms, and metals, at multiple spatial and temporal scales.