Historical News
R/V Monitor's Blog
The Bullock's Reach buoy was deployed by the RI DEM on Thursday, May 21st. NBC monitoring professional Amanda assisted the DEM with this operation. The crew of the R/V monitor was dispatched on Friday, May 22nd to deploy the sondes on the Bullock's Reach buoy. Staff also performed a water column profile with the profiling sonde. The weather was mostly sunny and warm with a light breeze on both Thursday and Friday this week. Jeff captained the boat while monitoring professionals Sara and Mike deployed the sondes and conducted the water column profile. Below is a photo taken Thursday aboard R/V Chaffee just prior to the buoy launch.
Fixed Site Network
Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Sondes were swapped out for routine maintenance during midday on May 12. Approximately 0.50 inches of precipitation was recorded this week, with 0.44 inches occurring towards the end of the week. In response to the rain events at the end of the week, the Blackstone River experienced an increase to freshwater river flows as the week progressed. The decrease in overall salinity at the site was impacted by the increase in freshwater flows from the Blackstone River towards the end of the week. Overall, surface salinity averaged 3.5 ppt and ranged from 1.5 ppt to 12.5 ppt. Bottom salinity averaged 14.4 ppt and ranged from 1.9 ppt to 27.5 ppt. Both surface and bottom temperatures were similar to the previous week; surface water temperatures averaged 13.5°C and ranged from 9.8°C to 19.1°C, while bottom waters averaged 11.9°C and ranged from 9.9°C to 17.1°C.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations remain above the hypoxia threshold (>2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 10.5 mg/L, with a minimum of 9.2 mg/L and bottom DO averaged 8.5 mg/L, with a minimum of 6.6 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll-a averaged 2.8 ug/L this week, with a maximum of 8.8 ug/L on May 12. 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 2019 monitoring season on November 19. The 2020 deployment is tentatively scheduled for late May.
Fixed Site Network
Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Approximately 0.82 inches of precipitation was recorded over the week, with 0.56 inches occurring towards the end of the week. Compared to the previous week, Blackstone River flows decreased this week, and surface salinity increased in response. Overall, surface salinity averaged 5.1 ppt and ranged from 0.4 ppt to 14.2 ppt. Bottom salinity averaged 15.2 ppt and ranged from 0.6 ppt to 27.3 ppt. Both surface and bottom water temperatures increased from the previous week; surface water temperatures averaged 13.9°C and ranged from 10.9°C to 16.7°C, while bottom waters averaged 12.0°C and ranged from 8.9°C to 16.6°C.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations remained well above the hypoxia threshold (>2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 10.1 mg/L, with a minimum of 8.7 mg/L and bottom DO averaged 9.0 mg/L, with a minimum of 7.9 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll-a averaged 3.4 ug/L this week, with a maximum of 18.4 ug/L occurring on May 9. 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 2019 monitoring season on November 19. The 2020 deployment is tentatively scheduled for late May.
Fixed Site Network
Fixed Site Network
