Toome AquaTROLL Metrics: High-Frequency Water Quality Data from Lough Neagh

NIEA’s Freshwater Monitoring and Assessment Team deployed a multiparameter sonde on a buoy at Rea's Wood, Antrim, as part of a long-term water quality project. The instrument records water temperature, dissolved oxygen, phycocyanin, turbidity, and specific conductivity every 30 minutes, with data uploaded to a platform after a short delay. Data is provisional and non-validated, with sensor maintenance occurring every 4-6 weeks.

Use Cases

• Modeling dissolved oxygen dynamics based on high-frequency 30-minute measurements.
• Detecting algal blooms by analyzing phycocyanin fluorescence (RFU) time-series data.
• Assessing water clarity and sediment load through continuous turbidity (NTU) monitoring.
• Analyzing seasonal temperature and specific conductivity patterns in a freshwater lake.

Strengths

• High-frequency temporal resolution with measurements recorded every 30 minutes.
• Sensor accuracy specifications are provided for each parameter (e.g., temperature accuracy +/- 0.1°C).
• Describes a long-term monitoring project, suggesting a continuous data collection effort.
• Probe maintenance schedule is documented as occurring every 4-6 weeks.

Limitations

• Data is explicitly described as non-validated and provisional, subject to revision.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) Freshwater Monitoring and Assessment Team, published via OpenDataNI.

Collection Method

Data collected by a multiparameter sonde deployed on a buoy.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 11:23:33.324080; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Rea's Wood bathing water site, Lough Neagh, Antrim, Northern Ireland.