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Repository holding data from Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) monitoring conducted by United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modelling, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division researchers

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Provisional Harmful Algal Bloom research data

This repository houses provisional water quality monitoring datasets collected from Lake Archer in Wrentham, MA and Mashapaug Pond in Providence, RI. These data are collected to help track, understand and eventually forecast potential Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). We use several data sources for this effort which include: data buoys, an on-board, flow-through system, aka FLAMe, and water samples that are processed in a lab for various measurements. The data from these sources are provided here as provisional data and they may change. While the data provided here have had quality control checks applied, these data are considered provisional in nature. Quality checks may be updated during the course of the research study based upon new findings about the measurement technology. Final data versions may incorporate additional quality control checks after further analysis.

Provisional Data Access

The provisional data are provided as comma delimited files and are suitable for use with spreadsheets or easily read into many common programming languages (e.g., R, Python). The easiest way to download files is follow the links below and when you see the data, right click and select "Save as...".

These data are made available with the Creative Commons Zero Public Domain Dedication.

Final data associated with publications, after EPA clearance and peer review, are expected to be available through data.gov. We will update this GitHub site to point to final data, when available, which we expect to occur after several years of data collection.

Data Dictionary

Field Name Data Type Description Details/Possible Values
date date The date data were collected YYYY-MM-DD
time hms The time data were collected Eastern Time, HH::MM:SS
waterbody character Name of the waterbody archer or mashapaug
site character Site identifier within the waterbody 1-4 or b for the buoy site
depth character Depth, in meters, the measurement was collected 0-20, or integrated
field_dups numeric Field duplicate identifier 1-3,
lab_reps numeric Lab replicate identifier 1-3,
device character Identifier for device that collected data cb150, turner, flame, plate, cube, scope
variable character The name of the variable no3-n, water temperature, ph, specific conductivity, dissolved oxygen sat., dissolved oxygen conc., turbidity, chlorophyll, phycocyanin, barometric pressure, air temperature, wind direction, wind speed
units character Units for the variable mg/L, °C, mS/cm, percent, NTU, RFU, in Hg, degrees, knots
value numeric The measured value
notes character Notes about the measurement, including QA Flags value less than historic minimum, value less than minimum detection limit, value greater than sensor maximum, value greater than historic maximum

Automated Quality Control Checks

A number of automated quality control (QC) checks will be run on the data as they are added to the dataset. For these data, we use two different checks. First, we look for values that exceed historic maximums and minimums; second, we identify values that exceed the sensor manufacturer reported detection limits for the sensors we are using. The purpose of the historic range checks are to highlight potentially unusual numbers and do not necessarily mean the values should be removed. Values outside of the sensor capabilities would either indicate data that should be removed or data that should be set to the sensor minimums and maximums. For the provisional datasets, we have made no changes to data but instead have flagged these data in the "notes" column. The historic and sensor manufacturer reported detection limits for the sensors we are using are listed below.

Variable Units Historic Range Check Sensor Manufacturer Detection Limits
no3-n mg/L 0.05 - 6 0.05 - 6
water temperature °C 6.6 - 29.0 -5.0 - 50
ph 6.2 - 8.6 0-14
specific conductivity mS/cm 0 - 0.14 0 - 1
dissolved oxygen conc. mg/L 7.9 - 13.9 0 - 50
dissolved oxygen sat. percent 78.1 - 115.3 0 - NA
turbidity NTU 0.01 - 712.4 0 - 4000
chlorophyll RFU 0.1 - 100 0 - 100
phycocyanin RFU 0.1 - 35.4 0 - 100
barometric pressure in Hg 28.8 - 30.5 8.9 - 32.4
air temperature °C -0.9 - 31.4 -40 - 80
wind speed knots 0 - 45.7 0 - 77
wind direction degrees 0-360 0-360

Disclaimer

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) GitHub project code is provided on an "as is" basis and the user assumes responsibility for its use. EPA has relinquished control of the information and no longer has responsibility to protect the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of the information. Any reference to specific commercial products, processes, or services by service mark, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply their endorsement, recommendation or favoring by EPA. The EPA seal and logo shall not be used in any manner to imply endorsement of any commercial product or activity by EPA or the United States Government.

The spatial and temporal HAB provisional data are not fully verified and validated through the quality assurance procedures and, therefore, cannot be used to formulate or support regulation, guidance or any other Agency decision or position.

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Repository holding data from Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) monitoring conducted by United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modelling, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division researchers

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