Historical News

Week of December 20 - 26, 2020

R/V Monitor's Blog

​On Wednesday, December 23rd, the crew of the R/V Monitor was out on the upper Bay collecting bacteria samples, taking Secchi Disk and Par sensor water clarity measurements, and conducting real-time surface mapping of water quality parameters, including dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, water temperature, salinity, and pH, all in an effort to document water quality improvements associated with NBC construction projects. Sara captained the boat while monitoring professionals Mike and Daryll collected the samples and data. It was a sunny but cold day with with a breeze out of the northwest. The water was choppy but dropped off as the morning passed. The crew was forced to conduct an abbreviated sampling run as a result of waiting for a small craft advisory to be lifted. The featured photo was taken at Fox Point marina.

12-23-20 Fox Point Marina.jpg 

Week of December 6 - 12, 2020

R/V Monitor's Blog

​On Wednesday, December 9th, the crew of the R/V Monitor was out on the upper Bay collecting bacteria samples, taking Secchi Disk water clarity measurements, and conducting real-time surface mapping of water quality parameters, including dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, water temperature, salinity, and pH, all in an effort to document water quality improvements associated with NBC construction projects.  Jeff captained the boat while monitoring professionals Mike and Sara collected the samples and data. It was a cold and cloudy day, but there was no wind which made the water very calm.  The featured photo provides a sense of how calm the water was this day.

12-9-20 Boating.jpg 

Week of December 6 - December 12, 2020

Surface Mapping

Data were collected on December 9, 2020 while the R/V Monitor was underway collecting bacteria samples in the Seekonk and Providence River estuaries. The chlorophyll concentrations were good in the areas surveyed. From north to south, average chlorophyll concentrations were as follows: Seekonk River (3.24 µg/L), Upper Providence River (2.43 µg/L), Edgewood Shoals area (1.62 µg/L), Pawtuxet River area (1.55 µg/L), and Lower Providence River area (1.43 µg/L). Overall, chlorophyll ranged between 0.30 µg/L and 5.20 µg/L with an overall average of 2.49 µg/L. The chlorophyll data from this date are presented in the map below:

Dataflow 2020-12-09 small.jpg

Week of November 22 – 28, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing

Phillipsdale Landing sondes were changed out for routine maintenance during the morning of November 24. Water quality at this site was good this week. Precipitation totaled 1.77 inches at TF Green, with most of the rainfall (1.37 inches) falling on November 23. In response to the heavy rain on November 23, freshwater discharge from the Blackstone River increased from the previous week. The increase in freshwater input from the Blackstone River led to a decrease in salinity at all depths. For the week, salinity at the surface averaged 8.4 ppt and ranged from 2.6 ppt to 22.8 ppt. Bottom salinity averaged 22.2 ppt and ranged from 5.7 ppt to 29.0 ppt. Both surface and bottom water temperatures decreased from the previous week, averaging 8.8°C and 10.1°C, respectively. Surface temperatures ranged from 6.5°C to 10.9°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 8.1°C to 11.2°C.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) remained above the hypoxia threshold (2.9 mg/L) in surface and bottom waters this week. Surface DO averaged 10.1 mg/L, with a minimum of 7.6 mg/L, while bottom DO averaged 7.7 mg/L, with a minimum of 6.4 mg/L. Chlorophyll concentrations continue to be low through the week, averaging 2.3 ug/L at the surface and 1.3 ug/L at the bottom. Maximum surface chlorophyll concentrations reached 6.5 ug/L on November 23. Please note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen at this location.

Bullock Reach

The Bullock Reach sondes were removed for the 2020 monitoring season on November 17.

Week of November 15 – 21, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing

Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Precipitation totaled 0.43 inches at TF Green this week, with most of the rainfall (0.42 inches) occurring on November 15. Blackstone River flows increased at the beginning of the week in response to the precipitation, with freshwater flows generally reducing through the week. Portion of the surface data on November 17 was omitted from the summary due to the depth being suspect. This week, surface salinity averaged 16.8 ppt and ranged from 4.1 ppt to 26.9 ppt. Bottom salinity averaged 23.5 ppt and ranged from 12.9 ppt to 28.3 ppt. Both surface and bottom water temperatures continued their seasonal decline, averaging 10.1°C and 11.2°C, respectively. Surface temperatures ranged from 6.2°C to 12.3°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 8.2°C to 12.5°C.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) remained above the hypoxia threshold (2.9 mg/L) in surface and bottom waters this week. Surface DO averaged 9.0 mg/L, with a minimum of 7.2 mg/L, and bottom DO averaged 7.8 mg/L, with a minimum 6.9 mg/L. Chlorophyll concentrations were generally low for the week, averaging 2.3 ug/L at the surface and 2.6 ug/L at the bottom. Maximum surface chlorophyll concentrations reached 7.0 ug/L, measured on November 21. Please note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen at this location

Bullock Reach

The Bullock Reach sondes were removed for the 2020 monitoring season on November 17 and data collected from the sondes before they were removed are included in this summary. Please note that the mid-sonde salinity data are not reported in this summary due to suspected probe drift. Water quality was good this week at this site. Surface salinity averaged 28.5 ppt and ranged from 26.9 ppt to 29.8 ppt, while bottom waters averaged 30.0 ppt and ranged from 28.7 ppt to 31.0 ppt. Temperatures averaged 12.0°C, 12.2°C, and 12.3°C at the surface, mid, and bottom waters, respectively. Surface temperatures ranged from 11.1°C to 12.5°C, mid temperatures ranged from 11.7°C to 13.1°C, and bottom temperatures ranged from 11.6°C to 13.1°C.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations remained above the hypoxia threshold (2.9 mg/L) throughout the water column. Surface Do averaged 8.1 mg/L, while mid DO averaged 8.0 mg/L. Bottom DO averaged 8.0 mg/L, with a minimum of 7.6 mg/L. Chlorophyll concentrations were low at all depths this week, averaging 1.1 ug/L at the surface, 0.7 ug/L in mid-depth waters, and 1.8 ug/L in bottom waters. The maximum water column chlorophyll concentration was 3.3 ug/L, measured at the bottom on November 15.

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