Historical News
R/V Monitor's Blog
On Wednesday, January 15th, the crew of the R/V Monitor was out on the upper Bay collecting nutrients and plankton 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 Fern, Steve and Gerard collected the samples and data. It was a sunny and brisk day with a 10 knot wind from the west-northwest. There was a small chop in the morning, but the wind died down in the afernoon, making the water much calmer. The photo features one of NBC's monitoring professionals holding a nutrients sample he had just collected.
Fixed Site Network
Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Precipitation totaled 1.82 inches for the week, with the majority of the rainfall (1.43 inches) occurring on December 30. Following this rainfall event, a decline was observed in surface salinity. Surface salinity averaged 4.2 ppt, and ranged from 1.0 ppt to 14.0 ppt. Bottom salinity averaged 15.6 ppt, and ranged from 1.4 to 18.6 ppt. Surface water temperatures decreased over the course of the week, averaging 4.0°C and ranging from 2.7°C to 5.2°C. In the bottom waters, temperatures averaged 4.8°C and ranged from 2.9°C to 6.0°C.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations continued to remain above the hypoxia threshold (> 2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 12.7 mg/L, with a minimum of 10.8 mg/L and bottom DO averaged 10.8 mg/L, with a minimum of 8.8 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll-a remained low this week, averaging 1.8 ug/L with a maximum of 2.7 ug/L.
Bullock Reach
Please note, the Bullock Reach sondes were removed for the 2019 monitoring season on November 19.
Water Column Clarity
Water clarity was measured at six locations in the Providence River on January 2, 2020. In the three days prior to sampling, 1.56 inches of rainfall was recorded, with the majority of rainfall occurring on December 30. The average Secchi depth reflected increased clarity since the last survey on December 24, from 2.1 m to 3.2 m. All sites exhibited increased clarity since the last survey, with the greatest increase (up 1.33 m) observed at Conimicut Point. Water clarity ranged from 2.6 m at Edgewood Yacht Club to 3.6 m at Pawtuxet Cove. Overall, water clarity in the Providence River estuary increased from north to south.
R/V Monitor's Blog
Fixed Site Network
Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Please note, sondes were changed out for routine maintenance during the morning hours of December 24. No precipitation was recorded at TF Green airport this week. Therefore, over the course of the week, surface salinity and temperature exhibited increases. Surface salinity averaged 6.9 ppt and ranged from 2.2 ppt to 18.0 ppt. Average bottom salinity, 19.3 ppt, was also higher than the previous week and ranged from 4.5 ppt and 27.4 ppt. Water column temperatures for the week increased, averaging 3.6°C at the surface and 4.7°C at the bottom.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations continued to remain above the hypoxia threshold (> 2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 12.5 mg/L, with a minimum of 10.5 mg/L, and bottom DO averaged 10.3 mg/L, with a minimum of 9.2 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll-a remained low this week, averaging 1.6 ug/L with a maximum of 2.4 ug/L.
Bullock Reach
Please note, the Bullock Reach sondes were removed for the 2019 monitoring season on November 19.
