Public methods
Water History 10 m
Lake Pulse reports measurements. It does not score, rate, rank or forecast lakes or properties.
What it measures
What you get & how it's made
2 parameters · Satellite bloom and sediment history (relative indices)
- Value type
- Not published
| Index layer | What's reported |
|---|---|
| Bloom index | Time series and bloom-frequency map across available years |
| Turbidity/sediment index | Time series and sediment-frequency map across available years |
- Bloom index
- What's reported:
- Time series and bloom-frequency map across available years
- Turbidity/sediment index
- What's reported:
- Time series and sediment-frequency map across available years
You get
- Historical bloom and sediment maps and time series, in your lake portal
- Written summary of where and when they recur
How it's produced
- Test type
- Satellite bloom and sediment history (relative indices)
- Source
- Sentinel-2 satellite imagery (2015 onward); earlier years from Landsat
- Base image
- NAIP aerial photography
- Resolution
- 10 m (Sentinel-2); 30 m for earlier Landsat years
- Minimum lake size
- About 25 acres
- Processed by
- Lake Pulse, automated; cloud-affected scenes excluded
- Delivery
- Within 15 business days of payment
How (lab/instrument, method)
- Source
- Sentinel-2 satellite imagery (2015 onward); earlier years from Landsat
- Base image
- NAIP aerial photography
- Resolution
- 10 m (Sentinel-2); 30 m for earlier Landsat years
- Minimum lake size
- About 25 acres
- Processed by
- Lake Pulse, automated; cloud-affected scenes excluded
- Delivery
- Within 15 business days of payment
Limits (MDL/RL, resolution, interval)
Published limits appear with their parameters in the measurement box above. Unspecified detection limits, reporting limits, resolution, and reading intervals are not inferred.
Value type
Not supplied in the product's published methods.
What it can and can't tell you
Every image shows the date it was captured. Satellite products are derived from reflected light recorded as a satellite passes over your lake. Values are relative indices, not laboratory concentrations, and cannot identify an organism, a toxin, or a pollutant. Cloud, haze, sun glint, shallow water, and shoreline effects can distort or hide the signal, and small lakes, narrow arms, and coves may fall below the image resolution. Conditions can change within hours of a pass. The absence of a detected bloom or sediment does not mean the water is safe. Earlier Landsat years are coarser (30 m) and have fewer clear images. Results can help you make decisions about safe swimming, but are not definitive for every place and time, and it is always good practice to check posted signs and your state or local health authorities.
How the baseline works
Satellite signals are relative to this area's own baseline, not a concentration or a lake rating. The baseline period, processing method and assumptions must be stated in the published product methods. Where these details are not supplied above, they have not been published here.
Version and last updated date
- Methods version
- Not supplied in the product's published methods.
- Last updated
- Not supplied in the product's published methods.
