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“We went to the Sea of Galilee for research - to learn and improve our ability to analyze data. To detect from afar you also need to measure up close!”
On a warm, blue-sky day in October, a team from BlueGreen Water Technologies set out across the Sea of Galilee on a research mission. The harp-shaped water body stretches over 64 square miles in northeastern Israel near the borders of Jordan and Syria. Nestled among hills, the Sea of Galilee is actually a lake - the lowest freshwater lake on earth, sitting some 700 feet below sea level. It is a vital water resource for the region, supplying 30% of Israel’s drinking water.
On this particular day, the lake served as a perfect testing ground for the BlueGreen team due to plentiful rainfall, which kept the water at a healthy level and toxic algae at bay.
“We went to the Sea of Galilee for research - to learn and improve our ability to analyze data,” said Dr. Gad Weiss, Scientific Director, BlueGreen. “To detect from afar you also need to measure up close!”
The team would be gathering additional data for BlueGreen’s Lake Guard View and drone image inference systems. Lake Guard View uses satellite and/or drone images, along with BlueGreen's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning model, to provide an accurate assessment of water quality.
The systems are trained to detect severe algal blooms, but it is also important for them to understand what a low-to-medium bloom looks like, as well as to ascertain when a water body has no blooms at all.
“What we collect in drone and satellite imagery needs to be cross-referenced with what is actually going on in the water - this is exactly how we train and smarten our system,” said Gadi Raz, Head of AI, BlueGreen.
Water science relies on data, and the BlueGreen team has run this drill before. The company’s proprietary BlueGreen Knowledgebase actually contains data from thousands of water bodies BlueGreen has treated.
“Lakes are a complex, dynamic ecosystem. To understand what’s going on in a water body, we measure and assess,” said Weiss. “We are always gathering data to enable our system to infer satellite and drone imagery as accurately as possible.”
“Lakes are a complex, dynamic ecosystem. To understand what’s going on in a water body, we measure and assess.”
Pretty soon there will be an app for that! BlueGreen is developing a mobile app that will enable users to upload an image of a water body and BlueGreen’s own water scientists will analyze it and prescribe a remedy. Stay tuned!
