Plum Island Ecosystems LTER Database

Acceptance and utilization of LTER data requires that:

(1) The Principal Investigator be sent a notice stating reasons for acquiring any data and a description of the publication intentions.
(2) The Principal Investigator of the data set be sent a copy of the report or manuscript prior to submission and be adequately cited in any resultant publications.
(3) A copy of any resultant publications should be sent to:

Principal Investigator
Ecosystems Center
Marine Biological Laboratory
7 MBL St.
Woods Hole, MA 02543

Dataset URLs:METADATA: HTML, Rich Text, XML(EML compliant) DATA: Comma Delimited, Excel file with Metadata and data
Dataset ID:WAT-VA-Inputs.03
Dataset Title:Dissolved nutrient and particulate concentrations of freshwater inputs to the Plum Island estuarine system, taken approximately monthly.
Investigator 1: 
First Name:Chuck
Last Name:Hopkinson
Address line 1:Marine Biological Laboratory
Address line 2:The Ecosystems Center
Address line 3:7 MBL Street
City:Woods Hole
State:MA
Zip Code:02543
Country:USA
Associate Investigators:Hap Garritt, Aaron Strong, Christina Maki, William Lee, Emily Gaines,Corey Lawrence, John Logan, Josh Goldstein, Greg Peterson, Nat Weston, Ishi Buffam
Keywords:Ipswich River, Parker River, Egypt River, dam, loading, nutrient, Plum Island Estuary, PIE LTER
Abstract:Water chemistry including nutrient concentrations for various forms of N, P, C, as well as suspended sediments, was determined from monthly grab samples taken at watershed inputs to the Plum Island Sound Estuary. Sampling sites were the Ipswich River (Sylvania Dam, Ipswich, MA), Parker River Dam (Central St, Newbury, MA), Egypt River (Ipswich, MA) Mill River (Newbury, MA), Muddy Run (Rowley, MA). These nutrient concentrations are then used in conjunction with USGS discharge data (recorded at gages in the Parker River at Byfield, MA and the Ipswich River at Ipswich, MA) to calculate annual nutrient loading to the Estuary, coming over each dam. Annual yield is also calculated for both dams. Refer to file WAT-VA-Load for loading data.
Contact: Plum Island Ecosystems LTER Information Manager
The Ecosystems Center
Marine Biological Lab
7 MBL St
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Phone (508) 289 7485
Email: pie_im@mbl.edu
Online URL: http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/PIE/
DATA FILE INFORMATION:
Data File URL http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/PIE/data/WAT/data/WAT-VA-Inputs.dat
Data File Name WAT-VA-Inputs
Beginning Date 9/5/1993
End Date 8/8/2007
Number of Data Records 401
Other Files to Reference WAT-VA-Load
Availability Status Type 1
Quality Control Information
Maintenance Description Nutrient samples continue to be taken monthly. Monthly nutrient concentrations are updated annually in WAT-VA-Inputs. Every 2-3 years, WAT-VA-Load is updated with loading calculated from concentrations in WAT-VA-Inputs.
Log of Changes: 01) 27-Sep-2006 EML metadata created level ~3.5 includes attribute information
02) 13-Aug-2007 updated EML metadata to level 4-5
03) 21-Sep-2007 updated data set to Aug 2007 data.
RESEARCH LOCATION: Site 1
Geographic Description Ipswich Dam, Sylvania Dam, Ipswich, MA
Location Bounding Box
West Bounding Coordinate -71.22
East Bounding Coordinate -70.75
North Bounding Coordinate 42.83
South Bounding Coordinate 42.5
OR if single point location
Latitude 42.6777
Longitude -70.8378
Methods:Sample Collection:
Grab samples are collected monthly at the Parker and Ipswich dams, and Egypt Rive. Samples at Mill River and Muddy Run were taken in 1999. Water is filtered and/or partitioned for analysis for suspended solids, particulate organic nitrogen (PON), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), ammonium (NH4), nitrate (NO3), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), particulate phosphorus (PPO4), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), phosphate (PO4), particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Occasionally chlorophyll and phaeopigments in addition to stable isotopes of dissolved and particulate forms of nitrogen and carbon are analyzed.
Analyses are conducted according to PIE-LTER protocols (http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/pie/data/method.htm).

Data Table

Variable Name Variable Description Units Measurement Scale Code Infomation Number Type DateTime Format Missing Value Code Missing Value Code Explanation
STATION Water sampling station   nominal       blank no data
DATE Date of water collection day   datetime     dd-mmm-yyyy blank no data
TIME Time of water collection, 24 hour   datetime     hh:mm blank no data
STATE X x coordinates (meters) in MA state plane NAD 83 meter ratio   real   blank no data
STATE Y y coordinates (meters) in MA state plane NAD 83 meter ratio   real   blank no data
LAT Latitude in NAD 83 geographic coordinates (decimal degrees) degree interval   real   blank no data
LON Longitude in NAD 83 geographic coordinates (decimal degrees) degree interval   real   blank no data
TEMP temperature (Celsius) celsius ratio   real   blank no data
SAL salinity partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
NH4 Ammonium concentration as NH4-N microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
NO3 Nitrate concentration as NO3-N microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
PO4 Phosphate concentration as PO4-P microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
TDN Total nitrogen concentration as N microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
DON Dissolved organic nitrogen concentration as N microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
TDP Total dissolved phosphorus concentration as P microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
DOP Dissolved organic phosphorus concentration as N microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
DOC Dissolve organic carbon concentration as C microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
SS Suspended sediment concentration milligramsPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
PP Particulate phosphorus concentration as P microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
PON Particulate organic phosphorus concentration as N microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
POC Particulate organic carbon concentration as C microMolesPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
PO13C d13C (per mil) vs PDB of the particulate organic carbon partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
PO15N d15N (per mil) vs air of the particulate organic nitrogen partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
CHLA Chlorophyll a concentration microgramsPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
PHAEO Phaeopigment concentration microgramsPerLiter ratio   real   blank no data
15NH4 d15N (per mil) vs air of the dissolved ammonium partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
15NO3 d15N (per mil) vs air of the dissolved nitrate partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
15TDN d15N (per mil) vs air of the total dissolved nitrogen partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
15DON d15N (per mil) vs air of the of the dissolved organic partsPerThousand ratio   real   blank no data
COMMENTS Additional information pertaining to the sample   nominal 1= TDP less than PO4 TDP set equal to PO4     blank no data