Historical Phytoplankton and Bloom Data for New York Harbor Estuary

Phytoplankton characteristics and bloom phenomena data compiled from four major monitoring programs in the New York Harbor Estuary and New York Bight. The dataset was created by SCIOPS for the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program, with a last recorded update in 1995. It addresses chlorophyll a, species biomass, and environmental factors contributing to algal blooms.

Use Cases

• Modeling chlorophyll a concentration as an index of phytoplankton abundance against water quality variables.
• Analyzing relationships between phytoplankton species composition, biomass, and recorded bloom conditions.
• Developing an Algal Bloom Index by correlating the nature and historical impacts of blooms with environmental data.
• Identifying factors contributing to excessive phytoplankton blooms in specific locations within the estuarine system.

Strengths

• Integrates data from four distinct monitoring programs: NYCDEP, ISSC, NJDEP/USEPA, and NPS.
• Covers multiple analytical topics including species biomass, bloom impacts, and environmental correlations.

Limitations

• Data is temporally stale, with a last update recorded in 1995.
• Specific quantitative metrics like row count, column count, and sample size are unknown.

Provenance

Source

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), Interstate Sanitation Commission (ISSC), New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) with USEPA, and Gateway National Park, National Park Service (NPS).

Collection Method

Compilation of existing monitoring program datasets.

Freshness

1995-01-01

Geography

New York Harbor Estuary and New York Bight ecosystems.