Virtual Beach

This decision-support software package generates statistical models to predict levels of disease-causing pathogens at specific beach sites. Managers can use it to help guide decisions on beach closures for public health reasons.  

Climate change-related effects on lake and coastal ecosystems—such as warming waters and intense precipitation—can result in unsafe conditions for recreation. Statistical models created by Virtual Beach can be used to "nowcast" water quality based on other environmental conditions. Such "nowcast" models can be used to estimate water quality conditions at any time. Virtual Beach's model optimization and machine-learning capabilities are coupled with the ability to download beach-specific, near real-time data directly into the model.