Monitoring Algal Blooms in Small Lakes Using Drones: A Case Study in Southern Illinois

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) persist in many water bodies around the world and pose adverse health economic impacts to affected communities. Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently been applied as a cost-effective tool for HABs monitoring. In this study, two small lakes Southern Illinois (Carbondale Reservoir Campus Lake of University) were monitored using UAVs biomass concentrations lake waters. By analyzing vegetation indices derived from multispectral UAV images chlorophyll-a lakes, statistical regression models established each waterbody. The model relates spectral characteristics its algae biomass. It was found that normalized difference index (NDVI) blue-to-green band ratio are best-fit variation Carbondale Lake, respectively. findings study can be used monitoring these future.