High resolution temporal surface water data from four continuous monitoring stations within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

The goal of this study was to develop a suite of inter-related water quality monitoring approaches capable of modeling and estimating the spatial and temporal gradients of particulate and dissolved total mercury (THg) concentration, and particulate and dissolved methyl mercury (MeHg), concentration, in surface waters across the Sacramento / San Joaquin River Delta (SSJRD). This suite of monitoring approaches included: a) data collection at fixed continuous monitoring stations (CMS) outfitted with in-situ sensors, b) spatial mapping using boat-mounted flow-through sensors, and c) satellite-based remote sensing. The focus of this specific child page is to document the temporal high-resolution (15 minute) in-situ sensor data collected at the four primary CMS locations. 
The four primary CMS locations chosen for this study included: a) a Sacramento R. dominated site in the northern portion of the Delta (Freeport, FPT, USGS Station_no. 11447650); b) a site in western portion of the central Delta, which is associated with the Cache Slough Complex and is seasonally influenced by the Yolo Bypass when it flows (Liberty Island, LIB, USGS Station_no. 11455315); c) a site in the southern reach of the central Delta where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers have strong seasonal influences on water quality (Middle River, MDM, USGS Station_no. 11312676); and d) a site in the eastern central Delta where the Sacramento, Cosumnes, and Mokelumne rivers have strong seasonal influences on water quality (Little Potato Slough, LPS, USGS Station_no. 11336790). 
These four sites were used for monitoring of optical properties and hydrodynamics at high frequency (15 minute) intervals over the 2-year study period. Specifically, the data collected at each site includes tidal stage; velocity; nitrate measured via absorbance spectrometry (SUNA V2, Seabird Inc); and optical measurements of turbidity, chlorophyll-a fluorescence, and fluorescent dissolved organic matter, all measured via deployable multiparameter sonde (YSI EXO2, Yellow Springs, Inc). 
The time series data for all four CMS sites was downloaded for the 2-year period of record (July 1, 2019 through July 1, 2021) from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) website (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis), and are presented here in a single machine-readable datafile (CMS_TimeSeries_Data.csv), which includes data for all of the parameters described above. In certain situations, specific sensors were not operational at a given site for a particular time period, and thus the associated water-quality data are not provided as part of the time series record in those instances. These high frequency temporal records provide the explanatory variables used to modeled THg and MeHg concentrations over time and at high temporal frequency throughout the SSJRD.

Tags: california, environment, field-monitoring-stations, san-joaquin-delta, surface-water-non-marine, surface-water-quality, time-series-datasets, usgs-5f737b8e82cef8d183995c29, water-chemistry, water-circulation, water-ph, water-properties, water-quality, water-sampling, water-temperature
Organization: Department of the Interior