The frequent occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in water resources worldwide is alarming the environmental and health authorities. The presence of biological toxins, in particular microcystins (MCs) released during cyanobacterial HABs can dramatically impair the quality of water bodies. On-site sampling followed by in-lab analysis is the most accurate monitoring method. However the approach cannot cover vast special variation in real time. Another method is remote sensing based on satellite image analysis. Remote sensing proposes an idea on general algal bloom activity but does not deliver qualitative and quantitative analysis of toxin release. In order to find a complementary approach to the two different observing methods, we propose to deploy a highly sensitive and selective sensing network capable of directly monitoring the temporal and spatial variation of the species and concentration of MCs (LR, YR, RR, YA) in situ even at trace level (up to 0.1 �g/L). The in-situ real-time monitoring of MCs is helpful to evaluate the nature of algal bloom activity and thus the monitoring helps to establish an early warning system on HABs.

<i>In situ </i>monitoring of microcystins for the evaluation of harmful algal blooms

247th National Meeting (2014)

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In situ monitoring of microcystins for the evaluation of harmful algal blooms