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U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012-1099

Summary of Oceanographic and Water-Quality Measurements near the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland, 2011

Results

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All instruments were recovered successfully, and data were retrieved and processed using proprietary software from the instrument manufacturers and MATLAB data analysis software. In the spring deployment all the instruments collected data throughout the deployment. Some data were lost in the fall deployment; both WET Labs ECO sensors were incorrectly programmed to sample every 5 min instead of every 10 min, so this filled their memory prematurely and stopped sampling on October 20. The YSI sonde deployed at Blackwater River expended the battery capacity on November 20, about 20 days early. The other YSI battery performed better, allowing acquisition until the recovery.

Figures 8, 9, and 10 show the time series plots of temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data collected by the YSI sondes during the spring deployment at the Blackwater River sites. Figures 11, 12, and 13 show the time series plots of temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data collected by the YSI sondes during the spring deployment at the Transquaking River sites. Figure 14 shows the time series plots of pressure, east and north components of current velocity, temperature, salinity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen data collected by the Aquadopp velocity profilers and YSI sondes deployed on the Blackwater River during the fall deployment. Figure 15 shows the time series plots of pressure, east and north components of current velocity, temperature, salinity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen data collected by the Aquadopp velocity profilers and YSI sondes deployed on the Transquaking River during the fall deployment. In figures 14 and 15, color is used to distinguish between data from two sites: red indicates the upstream site, blue indicates the downstream site. In all figures, gaps in the plot indicate sensor malfunction or dryness at low tide.

Data collected were edited to remove spurious spikes, signals with biological fouling, and periods when an instrument was out of the water as determined by conductivity being near 0. Data were then converted to EPIC-compliant variables and placed into NetCDF format. NetCDF files allow for sharing of data in a common format that is machine-independent and contains appropriate metadata. Documentation of the USGS Oceanographic Time-Series Measurement Database can be found in Open-File Report 2007-1194 (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/pubs/of2007-1194/).

The data are publicly served at http://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/bw2011.html, which contains details of all field activities associated with this project, Google Earth visualizations of deployment locations, and sampling interval information. The edited, final data files can be accessed using OpenDAP at http://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/opendap/bw2011/. File naming conventions for time series observations are described at http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/pubs/of2007-1194/html/filenaming.html. Data in formats that did not conform to the structure of the Time-Series Measurement Database can be found in the appendix.

 
Click on figures for larger images
thumbnail image of figure 8 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring 903, BWR 1
Figure 8. Temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data from a pole-mounted YSI 6920 sensor at the confluence of a tidal creek and Blackwater River (903), deployed 0.35 meters above bottom in the spring of 2011.
thumbnail image of figure 9 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring 904, BWR 2
Figure 9. Temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data from a pole-mounted YSI 6920 sensor at the center of a tidal creek off Blackwater River (904), deployed 0.35 meters above bottom in the spring of 2011.
thumbnail image of figure 10 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring 905, BWR 3
Figure 10. Temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data from a pole-mounted YSI 6920 sensor at the edge of a tidal creek off Blackwater River (905), deployed 0.35 meters above bottom in the spring of 2011.
thumbnail image of figure 11 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring 906, FB SSC1
Figure 11. Temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data from a pole-mounted YSI 6920 sensor at the confluence of a tidal creek and Transquaking River (906), deployed 0.35 meters above bottom in the spring of 2011.
thumbnail image of figure 12 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring 907, BFB SSC2
Figure 12. Temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data from a pole-mounted YSI 6920 sensor at the center of a tidal creek off Transquaking River (907), deployed 0.35 meters above bottom in the spring of 2011.
thumbnail image of figure 13 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring 908, FB SSC3
Figure 13. Temperature, salinity, pH and turbidity data from a pole-mounted YSI 6920 sensor at the edge of a tidal creek off Transquaking River (908), deployed 0.35 meters above bottom in the spring of 2011.
thumbnail image of figure 14 and link to larger figure. A graph of data (916,917) BWR
Figure 14. Time series of pressure, east velocity, north velocity, water temperature, salinity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen from Blackwater River sites (916,917). The turbidity data from the ECO BB sensor from upstream is overlaid in red on the turbidity data from the YSI sonde.
Thumbnail image of figure 15 and link to larger figure. A graph of data from mooring (915,918) FB
Figure 15. Time series of pressure, east velocity, north velocity, water temperature, salinity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen from Transquaking River sites (915,918). The turbidity data from the ECO BB sensor from upstream is overlaid in red on the turbidity data from the YSI sonde.
 

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