GISTDA detects plankton blooms along four Gulf coast provinces

The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) has detected patches of plankton bloom along the coasts of Chon Buri, Samut Songkhram, Samut Sakhon and Phetchaburi.

GISTDA said images captured by its Sentinel-2C satellite on October 7 showed dense concentrations of suspended sediments and scattered patches of plankton bloom at several locations in the northern Gulf of Thailand.

The agency used the Ulysses Water Quality Viewer (UWQV) index to analyse chlorophyll concentrations and suspended sediments.

It also detected high concentrations of suspended sediments at the mouths of the Chao Phraya, Bang Pakong and Mae Klong rivers.

Floodwaters flowing into the rivers carried large amounts of nutrients and mud into the Gulf, contributing to plankton blooms that could affect water quality and fish and shrimp farms along the coast.