Ground-truthing of satellite imagery to track harmful algal blooms in Pigeon Lake, Alberta, Canada 2017-2022

This data was collected to create a calibrated model that would enable the use of satellite imagery to track harmful algal blooms by using chlorophyll a estimates as a proxy for cyanobacteria in the lake. Samples from Pigeon Lake were collected on the same day that the Sentinel-2 satellite would pass over the lake. These samples were analyzed for different algal pigments and enumerated to genus level to ensure that the satellite imagery was of cyanobacteria rather than different algal groups. An algorithm was developed which we termed the three band index (TBI) that best matched with the cholorophyll a from the in situ samples. This model was used on satellite imagery from 2017-2022 of Pigeon Lake to get chlorophyll a estimates for every 20 x 20 pixel of each image of the lake. This pixel data was used to determine different bloom metrics like the intensity, the area (extent) and severity.