Remote sensing of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Lake Erie and other surrounding inland waters: Foreword to special section

This special section of the Journal of Great Lakes Research addresses the use of state-of-the-art remote sensing technology to detect and monitor high concentrations of chlorophyll–a, potentially harmful algal blooms (HABs) and phytoplankton community composition in Lake Erie and other large lakes in the Great Lakes region. The papers in this issue represent findings generated by an interdisciplinary and international group of scientists and engineers that supported a dedicated set of multi-year research activities funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). These ongoing research activities, which include extensive in situ field sampling of HABs coupled with targeted optical measurements, drone, aircraft, and satellite remote sensing data, are summarized in a commentary following this foreword. The field campaigns supported by the above mentioned investigations were conducted over several years and throughout the HABs vegetative growing season, thus providing a unique data set to analyze