Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can appear in water bodies across the country, are an indicator of poor water quality and can potentially cause serious environmental and human and aquatic health effects. Historically, monitoring these HABs has been labor intensive and limited due to cost, time, and logistical constraints. EPA developed the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network Mobile Application (CyAN app) to help local and state water quality managers make faster and better-informed management decisions related to cyanobacterial blooms. It provides an easy to use, customizable interface for accessing algal bloom satellite data for over 2,000 of the largest lakes and reservoirs in the United States.

CyAN app is free and available for download on Google Play™. It is designed for use on Android™ devices and is compatible with versions 4.2-9.0 (API levels 18-26). It is currently being developed as a web-based app, which will be compatible with most devices.

1. Overview Presentation and Q&A Session (2:00-2:30 pm ET). This portion of the webinar will provide a general overview of the app including what it is used for, why and how it was developed, and who it was designed for, as well as state case studies from their beta testing of the CyAN app. The research that led to the development of the app was conducted in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) through the CyAN Project.

2. Step-by-Step Training and Q&A Session (2:30-3:30 pm ET). The second half of the webinar will be a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the CyAN app. We will walk through example scenarios and show you how to make fast and efficient initial assessments across water bodies that are roughly one square kilometer or greater. You will learn how to view cyanobacteria concentrations on a national-scale or zoom in to see data for a specific lake or reservoir, how to set queries to determine if blooms exceed your set limits, how to compare multiple water bodies at once, and how to use other functions in the app.