Massachusetts Estuary Water Quality Monitoring Data

Data from the Massachusetts Ecosystem Assessment Program, a state monitoring effort active until 2003. The program was a partnership with the EPA's National Coastal Assessment, focusing on water quality parameters in selected embayments. It was sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Coastal 2000, and the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in chlorophyll levels in Mt. Hope Bay.
• Model relationships between dissolved inorganic nutrients and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations.
• Assess water clarity by examining total suspended solids data.
• Study particulate organic carbon as an indicator of ecosystem health.

Strengths

• Includes monitoring data for a specific estuary, Mt. Hope Bay.
• Program was part of a formal national coastal assessment partnership (EPA NCA).

Limitations

• Nearly half of the data for Mt. Hope Bay is noted as unavailable.
• Data collection ended in 2003, making it temporally limited for current analysis.
• Sample size and specific row counts are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program, EPA National Coastal Assessment Program.

Collection Method

Field monitoring of water quality parameters.

Time Range

Active until 2003.

Freshness

null

Geography

Mt. Hope Bay and other selected Massachusetts embayments.