How is Technology Used
to Help Monitor the Bay?

Weather dominates our lives. It controls how we work, live and play, and accounts for nearly 20 percent of the information presented in local newscasts. Many of us plan our daily activities by looking at a forecast. Will it snow? Will it be humid? What are the chances of rain for the weekend?

These are the questions people want answered about their climate, but where does one go to explore the “weather” in the aquatic environment of fish, oysters or bay grasses?

The answer: Eyes on the Bay. http://www.eyesonthebay.net.

New Technologies
Maryland DNR is on the forefront of using new monitoring technologies, such as continuous and spatial monitors, to assess water quality. Continuous monitors are cost effective tools that allow DNR scientists to have a 24-hour a day monitoring presence, providing insight into the highly variable conditions that exist in the Bay.

Water quality mapping technologies improve this data’s spatial resolution, enabling DNR to determine the extent and impact of harmful conditions such as low dissolved oxygen or algal blooms. New technologies also allow for timely and relevant data to be provided in a compelling format through the EOTB website. DNR is also partnering with NASA to provide satellite imagery of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. These images provide valuable information and data which scientist can view to help understand or figure out why an event like an algae bloom may have occurred. The orbit of the NASA satellite provides imagery to study environmental issues across the globe such as cloud cover, vegetation on land and water temperatures. (www.aqua.nasa.gov).

More Than Just Data
DNR understands that not all Eyes on the Bay visitors may be familiar with the interpretation of water quality data. “What Does It All Mean? explains the various data collected, why it is important for diagnosing the health of our bays, and how it might vary from season to season. Using data from the website, monitoring “stories” highlight important or unusual water quality events and their relationship to habitat.

- Mark Trice, Resource Assessment Service
Tidewater Ecosystem Assessment

For more information:
Eyes on the Bay
NASA Aqua Science Project

Photo Courtesy of NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS,
and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
This Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)
image of Baltimore was acquired on April 4, 2000, and covers an area of 17 by 20 km.
Combining green, red, and near-infrared light to create a false-color composite,
the image shows vegetation as red, water as blue, and urban areas as grey.

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