Welcome to the ASSETS site, built in cooperation between NOAA  and FCT. ASSETS stands for Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status, and builds on the U.S. National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment (NEEA) developed by NOAA.

All users have access to information about the approach used in ASSETS, and to the results obtained for the various estuaries. Additionally, there is an area for data input which is restricted to authorized users. Right: eutro.org hits in '08. 42% are return visitors

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Apply ASSETS to your local system. The ASSETS application is available for download here. It is free, and available in five languages, including Chinese, reaching a language universe of over two billion people.

Listen to the podcast from NCCOS Diving Deeper: Eutrophication? Released January 2009.

 The original US NEEA study has recently been updated. Visit the update site

Two definitions of eutrophication

From an update workshop on the US National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment

Eutrophication is a natural process by which productivity of a water body, as measured by organic matter, increases as a result of increasing nutrient inputs. These inputs are a result of natural processes but in recent decades they have been greatly supplemented by various human related activities. Cultural eutrophication, or nutrient overenrichment, is the enhanced accumulation of organic matter, particularly algae, that is caused by human related increases in the amount and composition of nutrients being discharged to the water body. A variety of impacts may result, including nuisance and toxic algal blooms, depleted dissolved oxygen, and loss of submerged aquatic vegetation and benthic fauna. These impacts are interrelated and usually viewed as having a negative effect on water quality, ecosystem health, and human uses. Management concerns should address the human, or cultural, portion of nutrient additions insofar as the additions are detrimental to the environment.

From the original US National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment study

Eutrophication refers to a process in which the addition of nutrients to water bodies stimulates algal growth. In recent decades, human activities have greatly accelerated nutrient inputs, causing the excessive growth of algae and leading to degraded water quality and associated impairments of estuarine resources for human use.