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Florida residents now have access to real-time information to learn about areas affected by a dangerous red tide before heading to the beach. (GCOOS)
- A new resource has been released in a Florida county that will provide more information on the Red Tide.
- The Pinellas County Coastal Map is updated with new readings several times a day.
- The red tide was spotted this summer on the state's coasts, killing fish and making bathers sick.
After a summer in which the red tide spread to several parts of the Florida coast, the problem became so widespread that the governor had to declare an emergency situation.there is a new tool that will help residents to defend themselves.
Thanks to data collected by NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, as well as the Sentinel-3 satellites of the European Space Agency, residents and visitors to Pinellas County, headquarters of Clearwater and St. Petersburg the along the Gulf Coast, can access a new resource based on a smartphone. this shows which parts of the coastline were affected by the pest Karenia brevis. The map, updated with new information every three hours, is an experimental tool and available for the first time this month., according to a version of NASA.
"This new 24-hour red tide experimental breathing forecast allows people to see which beaches could be affected by the red tide, allowing them to plan their activities on the beach," said Barbara Kirkpatrick, NASA Director, Director of the Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) of the Gulf of Mexico "They can use this tool in the same way as other weather reports."
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As these satellites capture the data, they serve to better orient the ground sampling sites, helping the teams to locate the algae. They then use an application called HABscope to record videos on the water that are uploaded to a server and analyzed to determine the number of toxins in the water. From there, the information is added to the map so that residents can see if the water is safe or if the red tide is nearby.
It is an indispensable resource in Pinellas County, where the proliferation of red tides continued to increase until October, killing fish and making bathers sick., according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The red tide can cause breathing problems, and people with chronic respiratory diseases are urged to stay away from the red tide areas, VisitFlorida.org said.
Officials hope that the red tide's experimental breathing forecasts will help holidaymakers and residents know which beaches to avoid during the red tide.
"Now, thanks to the Pinellas County water tests, we are able to refine our forecasts and offer beach-by-beach forecasts," said NOAA oceanographer Richard Stumpf in NASA. "This forecast is the first step towards reducing the health and economic impacts of the red tide on coastal communities. Nobody should get sick after a day at the beach. "
The main journalistic mission of the Weather Company is to report on weather, the environment and the importance of science in our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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