Satellite data may help further clarify Oder River disaster

Experts detected unusually high concentrations of algae Monday in the Oder River in western Poland in the wake of an ecological disaster there that killed tons of fish and animals.

Brockmann Consult GmbH, a Hamburg-based company that develops software and services for the exploitation of environmental data, has processed satellite data at the river calculating chlorophyll concentrations, which serve as indicators of algal blooms.

In a statement, it said the satellite carries an optical sensor that can be used to determine water color and infer which color-giving substances are in the water.