ENVISAT MERIS CyAN: Satellite Data for Cyanobacteria Blooms in U.S. Lakes

U.S. lakes and estuaries are monitored by the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN), a multi-agency project involving EPA, NASA, NOAA, and USGS. It provides satellite-derived estimates of cyanobacteria concentrations using the cyanobacteria index (CI) algorithm. The data is derived from ENVISAT MERIS and Sentinel-3 OLCI sensors, with the latest version updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Detecting cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) based on satellite-derived cyanobacteria index (CI_cyano) data.
• Quantifying bloom intensity and spatial extent in lakes and estuaries based on estimated cyanobacteria concentrations.
• Supporting environmental management decisions for water quality based on multi-agency remote sensing products.
• Analyzing temporal trends in algal blooms across the contiguous U.S. and Alaska using combined Sentinel-3 data.

Strengths

• Data is produced by a multi-agency collaboration between EPA, NASA, NOAA, and USGS, indicating authoritative sourcing.
• Version 5.0 suggests iterative improvements and maintenance of the dataset.
• The dataset combines data from Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B OLCI sensors, likely improving temporal coverage.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Data is provided in BIN and ISO file formats, which may require specialized software for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as part of the multi-agency Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) project.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing products generated using the cyanobacteria index (CI) algorithm on ENVISAT MERIS and Sentinel-3 OLCI data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:08:18.262598; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Lakes across the contiguous United States (CONUS) and Alaska.