Historical News

Week of April 12 - 18, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Precipitation totaled 2.3 inches, with most rainfall (1.52 inches), and subsequent increases in freshwater river flow occurring on April 13. Surface and bottom salinity both exhibited the impacts of the rain and were lower overall than the previous week. Surface salinity averaged 1.5 ppt and ranged from 0.1 ppt to 5.7 ppt, while bottom salinity averaged 7.7 ppt and ranged from 0.2 ppt to 27.0 ppt. 

Water temperatures were warmer than the previous week. Surface temperatures ranged from 8.4°C to 13.2°C and averaged 10.8°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 8.2°C to 12.8°C and averaged 10.4°C. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations remained above the hypoxia threshold (2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 11.2 mg/L, with a minimum of 10.6 mg/L; bottom DO averaged 10.3 mg/L, with a minimum of 7.5 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll averaged 3.3 ug/L this week, with only sporadic readings above 10 ug/L. Note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column salinity, temperature, and DO 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. 

Week of April 5 - 11, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Precipitation totaled 0.95 inches, with most rainfall occurring later in the week. Surface salinity averaged 4.5 ppt and ranged from 0.7 ppt to 15.1 ppt, while bottom salinity averaged 15.4 ppt and ranged from 2.5 ppt to 28.5 ppt. Note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column salinity, temperature, and DO at this location.

Water temperatures were warmer than the previous week. Surface temperatures ranged from 8.2°C to 12.7°C and averaged 10.0°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 6.9°C to 11.6°C and averaged 9.0°C. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations remained above the hypoxia threshold (2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 11.2 mg/L, with a minimum of 9.6 mg/L; bottom DO averaged 9.9 mg/L, with a minimum of 8.3 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll averaged 3.9 ug/L this week, with only sporadic readings above 10 ug/L.  

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. 

Week of March 29 - April 4, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing; sondes were changed out for routine maintenance mid-day on March 31. Precipitation totaled 1.3 inches this week, with heavy rains at the start of the week and at the end. Surface salinity was low all week, with just a slight increase mid-week when the weather was dry. Surface salinity averaged 5.6 ppt and ranged from 2.3 ppt to 12.7 ppt, while bottom salinity averaged 16.6 ppt and ranged from 3.7 ppt to 30.2 ppt. Note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column DO, temperature, and salinity at this location.

Water temperatures remained similar to the previous week, with some seasonal warming at the surface. Surface temperatures ranged from 7.4°C to 10.1°C and averaged 8.3°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 6.6°C to 9.1°C and averaged 7.7°C. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations remained above the hypoxia threshold (2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 11.5 mg/L, with a minimum of 10.6 mg/L; bottom DO averaged 9.9 mg/L, with a minimum of 8.3 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll averaged 2.9 ug/L this week, with a maximum of 11.1 ug/L occurring on March 29. 

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. 

Week of March 22 – 28, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing

Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Precipitation totaled 2.2 inches. Surface salinity decreased over the course of the week, particularly in response to rainfall occurring on March 23, when the maximum daily precipitation result of 1.73 inches of rainfall was recorded. Average salinity in both surface and bottom water was lower than the previous week. Surface salinity averaged 6.6 ppt and ranged from 1.9 ppt to 18.5 ppt, while bottom salinity averaged 18.7 ppt and ranged from 3.3 ppt to 29.0 ppt.

Water temperatures increased throughout the week; surface temperatures ranged from 5.9°C to 10.0°C and averaged 7.9°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 6.3°C to 9.5°C and averaged 7.5°C. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations continued to remain above the hypoxia threshold (> 2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 11.6 mg/L, with a minimum of 10.2 mg/L. Bottom DO averaged 10.1 mg/L, with a minimum of 8.5 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll averaged 3.4 ug/L this week, with a maximum of 8.0 ug/L. Note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column DO, temperature, and salinity at this location.

Bullock Reach

The Bullock Reach sondes were removed for the 2019 monitoring season on November 19.

Week of March 15 – 21, 2020

Fixed Site Network

Phillipsdale Landing
Water quality was good this week at Phillipsdale Landing. Precipitation totaled 1.13 inches for the week, with the daily maximum, 0.89 inches, measured on March 19. Sondes were changed out for routine maintenance in the early afternoon on March 17.

Surface salinity generally decreased over the course of the week, particularly in response to the rainfall. Surface salinity was lower than the previous week, averaging 7.8 ppt and ranging from 2.0 ppt to 20.6 ppt. Bottom salinity averaged 20.3 ppt and ranged from 3.4 ppt to 28.8 ppt. Water temperatures at both depths increased slightly over the course of the week; surface temperatures ranged from 6.1°C to 10.3°C and averaged 8.5°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 7.0°C to 9.9°C and averaged 7.9°C.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations continued to remain above the hypoxia threshold (> 2.9 mg/L) at both depths. Surface DO averaged 11.7 mg/L, with a minimum of 10.3 mg/L, while bottom DO averaged 10.4 mg/L, with a minimum of 8.8 mg/L. Surface chlorophyll averaged 5.5 ug/L this week, with a maximum of 13.5 ug/L. Note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence water column DO, temperature, and salinity at this location.

Bullock Reach
The Bullock Reach sondes were removed for the 2019 monitoring season on November 19.

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