Public methods
Water Watch 3 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
4 parameters · Satellite bloom and sediment monitoring (relative indices)
- Value type
- Not published
| Index layer | What's reported |
|---|---|
| Bloom signal index (3 m) | Map for each clear-sky day, May–October |
| Turbidity/sediment index (3 m) | Map for each clear-sky day, May–October |
| Signal vs. baseline | Alert when bloom or sediment signal rises above your area's baseline |
| Season summary | Bloom timing and duration, sediment events, hotspot maps |
- Bloom signal index (3 m)
- What's reported:
- Map for each clear-sky day, May–October
- Turbidity/sediment index (3 m)
- What's reported:
- Map for each clear-sky day, May–October
- Signal vs. baseline
- What's reported:
- Alert when bloom or sediment signal rises above your area's baseline
- Season summary
- What's reported:
- Bloom timing and duration, sediment events, hotspot maps
You get
- Clear-day bloom and sediment maps of your polygon, in your lake portal
- Alerts by app and email
- End-of-season summary report
How it's produced
- Test type
- Satellite bloom and sediment monitoring (relative indices)
- Source
- PlanetScope (SuperDove) 8-band satellite imagery
- Resolution
- 3 m
- Minimum lake size
- About 2 acres of open water
- Processed by
- Lake Pulse; cloud-affected scenes excluded; Boathouse review
- Delivery
- Day after each clear-sky capture
How (lab/instrument, method)
- Source
- PlanetScope (SuperDove) 8-band satellite imagery
- Resolution
- 3 m
- Minimum lake size
- About 2 acres of open water
- Processed by
- Lake Pulse; cloud-affected scenes excluded; Boathouse review
- Delivery
- Day after each clear-sky capture
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. Water Watch maps the surface on clear days only; a cloudy stretch leaves gaps in the daily record. 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.
