OHHI Product Highlights
Improving Beach, Drinking Water and Seafood Management for Public Health
Health-related Forecasts, Advisories, and Bulletins A strategic
goal of OHHI is to lead the development of early warning systems to forecast
threats and predict long-term risks to human health throughout U.S. coastal
and Great Lakes waters. Since the program.s inception, OHHI has worked with
collaborating agencies and institutions to develop a number of forecasts,
advisories and bulletins for early warning.
- Puget Sound Harmful Algal
Bloom (HAB) and Vibrio early warning: "SoundToxins" is a monitoring
program designed to provide early warning of HAB and Vibrio parahaemolyticus
events in order to minimize both human health risks and economic losses
to Puget Sound fisheries. (OHHI Center: WCCOHH)
- Pacific Northwest
HAB Bulletin* is a web-based information system developed to provide
a comprehensive early warning information system for Washington coast HAB
events. It was developed by NOAA NWFSC with support from OHHI, NOAA Ecology
and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB), NOAA Monitoring and Event
Response Programs (MERHAB), the NSF ECOHAB, and the CDC. (OHHI Center: WCCOHH)
- Lake
Erie HAB Bulletin* is an experimental bulletin developed to provide
a weekly forecast for Microcystis blooms in western Lake Erie. (OHHI Center:
CEGLHH)
- Great Lakes Beach forecasts (for pathogen prediction): Real-time hydrodynamic
models were developed that provide nowcasts of nearshore water currents,
wind direction, and water temperature in Lake Michigan for the beach areas
around Grand Haven, Indiana Dunes, and Saginaw Bay. (OHHI Center: CEGLHH)
*Additional HAB forecasting products, supported by NOAA, are
either operational or under development throughout the nation. For more on
HAB forecasting, visit NOAA's HAB
Operational Forecasting System webpage.
Integrated Tools for Monitoring, Modeling, and Detection These are
critical elements for developing robust health early warning systems. Below
are some examples of recent tools, technologies, and information developed
with OHHI support.
- Tidal Creek Habitats: Sentinels of
Coastal Health Booklet highlights tidal creek indicator research outcomes
and recommendations for distribution to local land use planners, coastal
decision makers, and citizens. (OHHI Center: HML)
- Vibrio parahaemolyticus
nowcasts in the Gulf of Mexico: Abundance and distribution maps of predicted
Vibrio parahaemolyticus densities in oysters are updated as images are available
and posted to the webpage as an informative tool for users. (University
of Southern Mississippi, NOAA, FDA, NASA, and CDC)
- Mapping Pathogens in the Chesapeake
Bay: Experimental near real-time maps showing probability of Vibrio
cholera occurrence are posted to the webpage for informational purposes.
(University of Maryland and NOAA)
- Sensors for detecting human and wildlife health threats - OHHI supports
development of marine sensors to detect ocean-related health threats. For
more on marine sensors, click here.
Building an OHH Community
OHHI strives to build a robust oceans and human health community working
across disciplines and institutions to improve public health. OHHI has an active
and successful
graduate training program.
Further, OHHI Centers have engaged stakeholders in a variety of forums and
workshops to discuss emerging issues, assess user and community needs, and
educate/train health and natural resource managers.
Data Links
Links for Oceans
and Human Health-related Datasets