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GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession: NUT-GCEM-1609 Research Theme: General Nutrient Chemistry (Monitoring)
Contributors: Merryl Alber, Joan Sheldon, Adam Sapp
Title: Long-term water quality monitoring in the Altamaha, Doboy and Sapelo sounds and the Duplin River near Sapelo Island, Georgia from November 2013 to December 2022
Abstract: Water samples were collected on Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER oceanographic monitoring cruises from November 2012 through December 2022. Monthly samples were collected from GCE 6 (high and low tide) and GCE 7 (high tide). Quarterly samples were collected from the remaining GCE sites and AL-02, the Altamaha River oceanic end-member station. Concentrations of the following were measured using standard analytical methods: dissolved nutrients (phosphate, nitrate+nitrite, ammonium, silicate), dissolved organics (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) and particulate carbon and nitrogen, chlorophyll, phaeopigments, total suspended solids and loss on ignition.
DOI: 10.6073/pasta/363bba6a61a14f2f696fbd3961fd36a8
Key Words: Altamaha Sound, ammonia, carbon to nitrogen ratio, chlorophyll a, dissolved nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, Doboy Sound, Duplin River, estuaries, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, River Nutrient Sampling, Sapelo Sound, suspended solids, total nitrogen, water quality
LTER Core Area: Inorganic Matter, Organic Matter
Research Themes: GCE2 Q2 - Domain Patterns, GCE3 Area2 - Patterns within the Domain, General Nutrient Chemistry, Chemistry, Organic Matter/Decomposition, Phytoplankton Productivity
Study Period: 01-Nov-2013 to 31-Dec-2022
Study Sites:
GCE1 -- Eulonia, Georgia, USA
GCE2 -- Four Mile Island, Georgia, USA
GCE3 -- North Sapelo, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
GCE4 -- Meridian, Georgia, USA
GCE5 -- Folly River, Georgia, USA
GCE6 -- Dean Creek, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
GCE7 -- Carrs Island, Georgia, USA
GCE8 -- Alligator Creek, Georgia, USA
GCE9 -- Rockdedundy Island, Georgia, USA
GCE10 -- Hunt Camp, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
GCE11 -- Tidal Forest, Georgia, USA
GCE-SP -- Sapelo River, Georgia, USA
GCE-DB -- Doboy Sound, Georgia, USA
GCE-AL -- Altamaha River, Georgia, USA
GCE-DP -- Duplin River, Georgia, USA
» Download Geographic Coverage: Google Earth
Project References: GCE water quality monitoring
Research Protocols:

SIEL Protocol for colorimetric analysis of ammonium (UGA Stable Isotope Ecology Laboratory)

SIEL protocol for colorimetric analysis of Nitrate-Nitrite Nitrogen from EPA Method 353.2 (UGA Stable Isotope Ecology Laboratory)

SIEL Protocol for colorimetric analysis of phosphate (UGA Stable Isotope Ecology Laboratory)

GCE Cruise Sampling Protocol (Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER)

Persulfate Digest for Water Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorous (UGA Stable Isotope Ecology Laboratory)

Publications:

Peterson, R.N., Meile, C., Peterson, L., Carter, M. and Miklesh, D.M. 2019. Groundwater discharge dynamics into a salt marsh tidal river. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 218:324-333. (DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2019.01.007)

Burns, C., Alexander, C.R. Jr. and Alber, M. 2020. Assessing long-term trends in lateral salt-marsh shoreline change along a U.S. East Coast latitudinal gradient. Journal of Coastal Research. 37(2):291-301. (DOI: 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-19-00043.1)

Burns, C., Alber, M. and Alexander, C.R. Jr. 2020. Historical Changes in the Vegetated Area of Salt Marshes. Estuaries and Coasts. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00781-6)

Downloads: Information

Data Table: NUT-GCEM-1609 (Main data table for data set NUT-GCEM-1609, 791 records)

Access: Public (released 01-Apr-2018)

Metadata: Text (ESA FLED), XML (Ecological Metadata Language)

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [127.44kb],  Text File [128.13kb],  MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [121.25kb],  MATLAB (Variables) [126.27kb],  Text Report [174.88kb]

Column List:(hide)

Column Name Units Type Description
1 Date yyyy-mm-dd string Date of Sample Collection
2 Time HH:MM:SS string Time of sample collection
3 CruiseID none string GCE Cruise ID
4 Station none string GCE Sampling Location
5 GCEArea none string GCEArea
6 Latitude Degrees floating-point Latitude
7 Longitude Degrees floating-point Longitude
8 Surface_Temperature C floating-point Temperature of surface water taken from boat
9 Surface_Salinity PSU floating-point Salinity of surface water taken from boat
10 Tide none string Tide stage at time of sample collection
11 Cruise_Notes none string Notes from cruise log
12 Dissolved_Organic_Carbon ppm floating-point Dissolved Organic Carbon as C
13 Dissolved_​Organic_​Nitrogen ppm floating-point Dissolved Organic Nitrogen as N
14 Dissolved_​Organic_​Phosphorus ppb floating-point Dissolved Organic Phosphate as P
15 Ammonium ppb floating-point Ammonium as N
16 Nitrite ppb floating-point Nitrite as N
17 Nitrate ppb floating-point Nitrate as N
18 Phosphate ppb floating-point Phosphate as P
19 Silicate uM floating-point Silicate concentration
20 Total_Nitrogen ppm floating-point Total Nitrogen as NO3-N
21 Total_Phosphorus ppb floating-point Total Phosphurus as PO4-P
22 Particulate_Carbon mg/L floating-point Particulate Carbon concentation (average of replicates)
23 Particulate_Nitrogen mg/L floating-point Particulate Nitrogen concentration (average of replicates)
24 Chlorophyll_​a_​Concentration µg/L floating-point Chlorophyll-a concentration (average of replicates)
25 Phaeopigment_​a_​Concentration µg/L floating-point Phaeopigment-a concentration (average of replicates)
26 Total_suspended_solids mg/L floating-point Total suspended solids concentration (average of replicates)
27 Loss_On_Ignition mg/L floating-point Loss on ignition (average of replicates)
Statistics: Generate script code to retrieve data tables for analysis in: MATLAB, R, SAS, SPSS
Citation: Alber, Merryl. 2016. Long-term water quality monitoring in the Altamaha, Doboy and Sapelo sounds and the Duplin River near Sapelo Island, Georgia from November 2013 to December 2022. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/363bba6a61a14f2f696fbd3961fd36a8

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants OCE-9982133, OCE-0620959, OCE-1237140 and OCE-1832178. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.