Sensors for Monitoring Harmful Algae, Cyanobacteria and Their Toxins

7 ELISA’s $$ $ per kit Benchtop R, M T Med 9 SPATT $ $ Field R, M T Med 8 Dipsticks, Lateral Flow ELISA $ $ Field M T High 9 1 Includes costs of hardware required to run or interpret sample composition 2 B : biomass, G : genus, S : species, T : toxin 3 Includes consideration of whether individual operator or team operation is required 4 On a scale of 1-9 following NOAA-NOS readiness level definitions There are several variables to consider when assessing readiness levels of instrumentation, for example processing and reproducibility of data (can affect the ability to compare data sets over multiple years); the ease of procuring materials for chemical and molecular assays (some are in limited production); defining standard methods and QC equivalents for analysis (e.g beads for imaging, algal pigment spectra for fluorometers); spatial and temporal sampling capabilities and how they address the research/monitoring question(s); and the level of expertise needed (including the number of ‘hands’ required for operation, maintenance and data analyses). • What are improvement suggestions? 1) Improve onboard data processing capabilities to reduce the burden of data transmission. 2) Tie in with IOOS platforms – utilize “platforms of opportunity” and consider the “scalable design of a system”. This would involve current and future IOOS infrastructure initiatives, and ensuring new platforms are built to scale and can support additional co-deployed sensors. Improve on our ability to plug in additional analytics to more complex platforms such as the ESP. 3) Increase training and knowledge transfer in the form of classes, manuals, and a living online document. 4) Apply a suite of approaches. For example, generate cheaper, sentinel data sets to complement data from instrumentation. The community should think about complementary modalities for sampling, specifically for toxin detection. To this end, break away from the existing constraints from single projects / programs. 5) Implement portable systems for broader/cheaper use by more groups. An ELISA-based system (or passive sampler) for management level use is desirable. 6) Leverage platforms that enable improved spatial coverage and data transmission. • Q2: Identify region / HAB / water type-specific gaps and issues for HAB sensor technologies and their implementation. The working groups identified issues that fell within three major categories related to a) sensors , b) biology of target organisms , and c) transitioning results to public health relevancy . Forecasting toxicity is a gap that cross-cuts all of these major categories, with