Beach-level 24-hour forecasts of Florida red tide-induced respiratory irritation

Drone-based particle monitoring above two harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the USA

“…humans. 17,18,[38][39][40] In addition, wave breaks and bubble-bursting cause water to spray and contributes to aerosol production and the dispersal of cells, especially in larger bodies of water such as LE, 8 and cyanotoxins into the air. 18 Aerosols produced in this way have been found to contain MCs in samples collected over land near a HAB, showing that the toxin can be transported over land to the surrounding area.…”

“…14 Previous studies have shown a difference in particle counts with respect to wind direction when it caused a switch from offshore to onshore winds as wind can drive droplet formation from the water surface. 8,39 Our drone sampling missions were conducted exclusively during onshore winds, so consequently we were unable to examine potential associations of particle counts with offshore winds. Since all of our sampling missions were conducted during onshore winds, we speculate that a signicant fraction of the observed airborne particles were from the lakes studied.…”

“…Modeling of particle counts as a function of the wind speed, wind direction, and temperature could allow for future predictions of areas impacted by HAB-associated aerosols. 39 Such information is critical for determining time-sensitive health advisories, and to create public health forecasting models for the communities of people that live near contaminated bodies of water.…”

Drone-based water sampling and characterization of three freshwater harmful algal blooms in the United States

“…Different HAB-associated cyanobacteria produce a range of toxins called cyanotoxins that impact human health, including microcystins (MCs), saxitoxin (STX), anatoxin-a (ANA), and cylindrospermopsin (CYN) (Zurawell et al, 2005;Du et al, 2019;Ballot et al, 2020). HABs appear to be increasing in prevalence and severity around the world (Anderson et al, 2002;Schmale et al, 2019;Wells et al, 2020), and new information is necessary to understand the fate and transport of HABs and their associated toxins (Stumpf et al, 2016;Topp et al, 2020;Ross et al, 2022). Research is needed to understand threats, manage risks, mitigate incidents, develop capabilities, and strengthen collaborations for water quality (Topp et al, 2020).…”

Sensing atmospheric flows in aquatic environments using a multirotor small uncrewed aircraft system (sUAS)

“…For instance, multirotor sUAS wind sensing capabilities paired with particle counting and water sampling technology can help characterize the aerosolization of toxic cyanobacteria produced by harmful algal blooms such as the ones found in Grand Lake St. Marys in different seasons. 28,29,[32][33][34][35][36] Moreover, vertical wind velocity and particle count information collected both hovering and steadily ascending provide new possibilities for validating atmospheric dispersion models that are used to quantify exposure to aerosol emissions. To date, atmospheric dispersion models have only been validated using near-ground observations.…”