Researchers at the University of Georgia are working to develop an early warning system for bright green toxic algal blooms in Georgia lakes using social media platforms and cloud computing to crowdsource instances where further monitoring may be necessary.
The project—known as CyanoTRACKER—will use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to help identify localized blooms at lakes and ponds across Georgia. The toxic bacteria pose health problems for livestock, wildlife and humans and the researchers hope to better understand how these blooms develop to improve forecasting of future events.
You can read more about the project here or at cyanotracker.uga.edu. Deepak Mishra, the UGA scientist leading the study, says “if the lake you are visiting this summer or your neighborhood lake appears bright green in color then talk about it on social media (we will mine it) or inform us via Facebook (Id: CyanoTRACKER) or Twitter (#cyanotracker) or email us. Our website is :https://www.cyanotracker.uga.edu/ ”
Thanks for your help in working to solve this important problem!
