Elkhorn Slough Estuarine Water Quality Monitoring 1999

1999 data captures water quality at 30-minute intervals across three distinct sites in California's Elkhorn Slough, including a control site and areas impacted by agricultural runoff. The dataset includes parameters like temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity, collected by researchers associated with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and the University of California. Measurements were taken over three to four week periods at each site during the 1999 calendar year.

Use Cases

• Compare turbidity and pH levels between the control South Marsh site and the Azevedo Pond site receiving fertilizer runoff.
• Model dissolved oxygen concentration time-series using water temperature and salinity data from 30-minute interval logs.
• Analyze seasonal or tidal patterns in specific conductivity and water depth across the three monitoring sites.
• Assess correlations between agricultural activity (implied by site location) and nutrient-related water quality parameters.

Strengths

• High-frequency 30-minute measurement intervals for core water quality parameters.
• Explicit comparison between a control site (South Marsh) and two impacted sites (Azevedo Pond, North Marsh).
• Data collection is part of a longer-term monitoring program active since 1988, providing context.

Limitations

• Dataset is limited to a single year (1999) and specific 3-4 week deployment periods, not continuous annual coverage.
• Sample size in terms of row count and temporal span for 1999 is unknown from the description.
• Geographic coverage is restricted to three specific sites within Elkhorn Slough, California.

Provenance

Source

Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and Elkhorn Slough Foundation, with involvement from University of California Santa Cruz Agroecology Program researchers.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected by deployed water quality data loggers at fixed depths.

Time Range

1999, with measurements taken over 3-4 week periods at each site.

Freshness

Data is from 1999; the metadata was last updated in June 2001, indicating it is a historical snapshot.

Geography

Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, California, USA, specifically at South Marsh, Azevedo Pond, and North Marsh sites.