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State water board to publish final satellite remote‑sensing report and update HAB web app
Summary
State and partner teams said a final April 2025 report on satellite remote sensing for inland harmful algal blooms will be published alongside modest tool changes to the web application hosted by SFEI; changes will add more lakes viewable and adjust statistics used for local assessments.
Marissa Van Dyke, who co-manages the statewide freshwater and estuarine HAB program at the State Water Resources Control Board, told the California Cyanobacteria & Harmful Algal Bloom Network that the program will publish a final report in April 2025 on satellite remote sensing for inland waters.
The report, Van Dyke said, “articulates different assessment approaches for freshwater HABs and inland waters across the state” and explains how satellite-derived data can be used to answer monitoring questions including status and trends and potential drivers. She said the report will be accompanied by an updated web application hosted by the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI).
Van Dyke said planned updates to the web app include changing the thresholds used to flag areas for response and reducing the minimum number of pixels needed to consider a lake viewable, which will make a “few more lakes” available to users. She added the look and feel of the tool will not change. The state suggested users contact Cyanohab.reports@waterboards.ca.gov for further information.
The State Board and SFEI have been working together for the project; the web tool is intended to help practitioners and managers use satellite observations for early detection and retrospective analysis. Van Dyke and colleagues said they will publish a listserv write‑up describing the major changes to the tool when the update goes live.
The program’s announcement follows multiple regional reports during the meeting that used satellite alerts as part of monitoring and pre-holiday assessment workflows.
The State Board did not provide a firm launch date for the web app changes beyond their planned report timeline and said the team will share an explicit change log when the update is released.
