NOAA Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts and Satellite Imagery for Gulf of Mexico

NOAA's Harmful Algal Bloom Operational Forecast System (HAB-OFS) produced twice-weekly forecast bulletins and processed satellite imagery for the Gulf of Mexico from January 1 to December 22, 2003. The archive contains forecast products, HDF4 satellite imagery, GIS files, and documents analyzing ocean color, field observations, and models. The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services operated the system to forecast Karenia brevis (red tide) transport and associated respiratory irritation.

Use Cases

• Correlate processed HDF4 satellite ocean color imagery with forecast bulletins to validate bloom detection algorithms.
• Analyze GIS files containing forecasted HAB transport and intensification paths against buoy data and field observations.
• Model the relationship between public health reports of respiratory irritation and satellite-derived bloom locations.
• Use the time-series of twice-weekly bulletins to track seasonal progression and forecast accuracy of Karenia brevis blooms.

Strengths

• Data covers a full annual cycle from 2003-01-01 to 2003-12-22, capturing seasonal bloom patterns.
• Multimodal archive integrates forecast documents, satellite imagery, and GIS files for cross-validation.
• Forecasts are operationally produced, implying standardized methods and direct application relevance.

Limitations

• Dataset is limited to a single year (2003), reducing utility for long-term trend analysis.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and column details for satellite and GIS data are unknown.
• Geographic scope is restricted solely to the Gulf of Mexico.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI Accession 0208606).

Collection Method

Operational forecasts generated by NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, integrating satellite imagery, field observations, models, and buoy data.

Time Range

2003-01-01 to 2003-12-22.

Freshness

Data collection ended on 2003-12 22; the archive is historical and not updated.

Geography

Gulf of Mexico.