Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Tools, Challenges, and Public Health Implications.

ABSTRACT: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are an escalating global concern due to their increasing frequency, duration, intensity, and geographic spread. These events threaten public health by contaminating drinking water sources, recreational areas, and food production systems with cyanotoxins. Effective monitoring is critical but remains limited by the spatial and temporal variability of blooms. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently emerged as a flexible, high-resolution tool for HAB monitoring that can complement satellite and in situ methods. This review synthesizes recent applications of UAVs in HAB detection, mapping, and sampling, with a focus on how these approaches can support public health interventions. Key UAV platforms, sensor types, and data processing workflows are summarized, alo

SUBMITTER: Byrd K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12567913 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature