Cyanobacteria Assessment Network Cross-Platform Responsive Web Application (CyANWeb)

The Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) is a multi-agency (NASA, USGS, NOAA, and EPA) project whose mission supports the environmental management and safe public use of U.S. lakes and reservoirs by providing a capability of detecting and quantifying algal blooms using satellite data records and disseminating this information through a mobile application developed and hosted by EPA. The Cyanobacterial Index (CI, a measure of abundance) is derived from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instruments (OLCI) and covers the continental U.S. at 300m resolution and represents the weekly maximum value of cyanobacteria at over 2,370 resolvable lakes and reservoirs. The imagery is updated weekly, with previous week’s data available mid-current week, to provide a near-real time view of cyanoblooms at user selected areas of interest. The CyAN Android mobile app has been publicly available since June 2019 with a reported positive user experience (4.0/5.0 rating and 1000+ installs); however, the mobile app is Android-device operationally only. To reach a broader userbase and increase CyAN app flexibility, the EPA has undertaken development of a device-agnostic responsive web application (CyANWeb) usable on most internet-connected devices via a web browser (and operational on any device operating system platform). CyANWeb uses the JavaScript Angular development framework to achieve its cross-platform dynamic website design goal. CyANWeb is a new client application that mirrors the functionality of the Android mobile app and serves the current OLCI CI on an ongoing basis. Future enhancements include aggregate cyanobloom statistics by waterbody, weekly reports, and user-requested location CI data to be implemented in CyANWeb. CyANWeb will begin beta-testing in the summer of 2020 and run in parallel with the Android mobile app.