Lake Huron Cage Aquaculture Water and Sediment Quality, 1998-2016

Seasonal water and sediment quality measurements from nearshore areas of Lake Huron, Ontario, collected during ice-free periods between 1998 and 2016. The dataset includes chemical analyses, algal pigments, sediment size fractions, and associated detection limits, along with GPS coordinates and depth measurements for sampling locations. It was published by the Government of Ontario and contains data from areas surrounding cage aquaculture operations in the North Channel, around Manitoulin Island, and in Georgian Bay.

Use Cases

• Assess the environmental impact of cage aquaculture based on water chemistry and sediment data.
• Model long-term water quality trends in Lake Huron based on 18 years of seasonal monitoring data.
• Correlate sampling location characteristics with water quality parameters using provided GPS coordinates and depth measurements.
• Validate laboratory analysis methods using the included limits of detection and quantification for measured parameters.

Strengths

• Data collection spans 18 years (1998-2016), providing a long-term record.
• Includes multiple data types: water chemistry, algal pigments, sediment chemistry, and sediment size fractions.
• Contains methodological metadata such as limits of detection and quantification for parameters.
• Geospatial context is provided with GPS coordinates and multiple depth measurements for each location.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection was seasonal (ice-free periods only), which may not capture annual extremes.

Provenance

Source

Government of Ontario | Gouvernement de l'Ontario

Collection Method

Seasonal ice-free monitoring and sampling in Ontario nearshore areas.

Time Range

1998-2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 13:31:01.985260; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Nearshore areas of Lake Huron, Ontario, including North Channel, Manitoulin Island, and Georgian Bay.