New York State Mercury Synthesis: Abiotic Sample Database

Synthesis of Environmental Mercury Loads in New York State (1969-2017): Abiotic Samples contains compiled data on mercury concentrations from abiotic environmental samples across New York. The dataset is part of an eight-dataset statewide synthesis effort led by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), focusing on data from recent NYSERDA-sponsored monitoring. It provides a multi-decade record to analyze spatial and temporal patterns of mercury pollution.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial trends of mercury contamination using Latitude and Longitude coordinates for sample locations.
• Tracking mercury data collection over time using the Year column for temporal analysis from 1969 to 2017.
• Categorizing sampling environments and methods using columns like Waterbody_Type, Sed_Depth (cm), Hole_Depth (m), and Well_Depth (m).
• Linking samples to specific research initiatives and monitoring events via Project_ID, Capture_Event, and Capture_Loc identifiers.

Strengths

• Data represents a systematic statewide synthesis effort, compiling mercury data from multiple monitoring and research projects.
• Provides a long-term temporal scope, with samples spanning from 1969 to 2017.
• Includes detailed geospatial context with Latitude and Longitude columns for mapping and spatial analysis.
• Is part of a larger, structured database of eight related datasets on environmental mercury.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing or conflicting: row count, file size, license, and author are not provided across platforms.
• The dataset is limited to abiotic samples, excluding direct biological data like fish or bird tissue concentrations.
• The most recent update date is inconsistent, listed as both 2026-04-04 and 2026-03-30 on different Socrata entries.

Provenance

Source

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), published via data.ny.gov.

Collection Method

Compilation, analysis, and synthesis of existing environmental mercury concentration and load data from NYSERDA-sponsored and other monitoring efforts.

Time Range

1969-2017

Freshness

2026-04-04 23:12:29.526572

Geography

New York State, United States