Notice of Public Solicitation of Water Quality Data for the 2026 Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality in Maryland
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is currently requesting data in preparation of Maryland's 2026 Integrated Report (IR) of Surface Water Quality. If your organization collected water quality data in Maryland within the past five-year period (2019-2023), please consider submitting your data.
To submit data, please complete this 2026
Integrated Report Submittal Form and follow the appropriate data pathway. For additional information on the types of data accepted and how to submit data, please visit
MDE’s Data Solicitation Webpage.
In order to be used for the 2026 IR, all data must be submitted by January 10,2025.
Please contact Becky Monahan at Becky.Monahan@maryland.gov with any questions.
Introduction to Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Hyperspectral Observations for Water Quality Monitoring
Water quality monitoring in coastal ocean estuaries and inland lakes is critical for ecosystems and fisheries management and safe drinking water. Remote sensing of water quality parameters has conventionally used data from multispectral sensors (e.g., Aqua-MODIS, Landsat-OLI, Sentinel-3 OLCI, Sentinel-2 MSI) with a limited number of spectral bands. There have been research missions with hyperspectral sensors (e.g., EO-Hyperion, HICO) that have demonstrated that hyperspectral data (bandwidth <10 nm) can capture more detailed information about water surface reflectance and enable the detection of a wide variety of water pollutants. Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean, Ecosystem (PACE), a new NASA mission, was launched on 8 February 2024. PACE – Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) collects global, hyperspectral observations for water quality monitoring.
This three-part introductory training will provide an overview of past and current hyperspectral sensors. Specifically, the training will provide information on NASA’s PACE mission, its sensors and data products, webtools to access data, and software for processing hyperspectral data and water quality parameters derived from PACE/OCI. The training will also highlight some advantages and limitations of PACE data. This will be the first ARSET training focusing on the use of hyperspectral data for water quality applications. This training is also available in Spanish.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this training attendees will be able to:
- Review the capabilities of past and current hyperspectral missions useful for water quality applications.
- Examine key characteristics of the new NASA PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean, Ecosystem) hyperspectral mission satellite and instruments including their advantages and limitations.
- Access, analyze, and visualize PACE level 2 and 3 data for water quality monitoring in selected areas of interest through using SeaDAS and Jupyter Notebook software.
- Assess the applicability of selected PACE level 2 and 3 water quality parameters to evaluate water quality in large bodies of water.
Course Dates: September 25, October 2 and 9, 2024
Time:
English: 10:00-11:30 EDT (UTC-4)
Spanish: 14:00-15:30 EDT (UTC-4)
To Register:
English:
https://go.nasa.gov/3MgVaw4
Spanish:
https://go.nasa.gov/3SXHSbi
Questions? Contact:
Natasha Johnson-Griffin, Training Coordinator
Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) Program
GST | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Natasha.R.Johnson-Griffin@nasa.gov
The Green Life: How to Be Environmentally Conscious in College
College is a time of discovery. If you’re like many students, you’re starting to understand the things you are truly passionate about. Whether it’s social justice or political change, college can be a great time to start making a difference. If you’re driven to make our planet a greener place, you don’t have to wait until graduation to start making a real impact. You can start advocating for environmental change right from your college campus. In big ways and in small ways, there are countless steps you can take to make your contribution to environmental conservation in college. With more colleges doing their part to go green, you can even make a positive impact simply by enrolling. Between picking an environmentally friendly campus, educating others, and advocating for your cause, your little actions can make a big change. Learn what you can do to become a green student and find out how you can do your part to help slow climate change one day at a time. -
https://www.edumed.org/resources/going-green-in-college/
Get Involved in a Committee!
The Groundwater Committee is re-forming after a period of inactivity. This committee will promote and facilitate collaboration on issues related to the monitoring and assessment of the quality and quantity of groundwater. It will consider the current state of groundwater monitoring, and will explore the need for documenting and disseminating information on groundwater monitoring activities. The Committee may promote the sharing and accessibility of groundwater quality data, and may consider and make recommendations on the needs, protocols and quality standards for monitoring in relation to specific threats or stressors to groundwater. If you are interested in bringing your ideas for improving the understanding of groundwater in Maryland, please contact Jason Dubow (
jason.dubow@maryland.gov) or Matthew Pajerowski (mgpajero@usgs.gov).
