The News Board is a collection of information of special relevance to GCOOS. If you have announcements that you believe should be included here or on the GCOOS Calendar, please contact the web mistress, Susan Martin at srmartin@tamu.edu.
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Updated Bathymetry and Hydro Survey Data Sets from NOAA – Mississippi Coast and nearshore
NOAA has recently posted new bathymetry and full bottom imaging of the coastal bays and nearshore areas of Mississippi for public use.
The bathymetry and sidescan imagery providing full bottom coverage of the survey areas can be downloaded from NOAA NGDC. Mr. Patrick Fink can also be contacted (Patrick.Fink@noaa.gov) and a transfer of the data can be arranged.
The new surveys replace old data that was, in some places over 70 years of age. The full bottom imagery (sidescan) and the extensive single beam bathymetry can be used for storm surge models, ecosystem restoration efforts, coastal protection and storm preparedness and the identification of water bottom habitats.
| Posted: September 2009 | Return to Top |
USGS Releases Online Interactive Tool to Predict Atrazine in Streams Across the U.S.
Online predictions for stream concentrations of atrazine, one of the most heavily used herbicides in the United States, are now available as interactive maps and graphs for any stream across the country.
Access the online mapping tool, USGS report, and technical announcement at: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/ under Featured Highlights.
The predictions are based on a USGS statistical model – referred to as Watershed Regression for Pesticides (or "WARP"). This model also provides key statistics for each selected stream, including the probability that atrazine may exceed a water-quality benchmark of potential concern, and a level of confidence and uncertainty associated with each estimate.
This release is the first in a series of statistical models for atrazine and other pesticides. The models are based on monitoring in 112 streams from 1992-2001, as well as watershed characteristics that affect the occurrence of pesticides in streams, The driving characteristics include agricultural pesticide use, and natural features, such as soil characteristics, hydrology, and climate. Current models make predictions from estimated atrazine use during 2007.
Lead contact for questions: Bob Gilliom, rgilliom@usgs.gov, 916-278-3094.
| Posted: September 2009 | Return to Top |
Gulf of Mexico NASA-NOAA Bluefin Tuna Research
The Gulf of Mexico NASA-NOAA Bluefin Tuna Research project has a webpage: http://www.roffs.com/NASA_NMFSBluefinTuna.html.
We will be updating this site frequently with new imagery and science results and information. The imagery (images and movies) will be in a variety of sizes, color enhancements, with and without grids, as well as, with and without sea surface temperature or ocean color (chlorophyll + CDOM) palettes. Some will show ocean frontal boundaries and currents (http://www.roffs.com/2009BFT/MiscImages/19feb09GOMcurrents.jpg) while others will not.
The last quicktime movie covers the last 22 days (25 February–18 March 2009) and shows the formation of a new Loop Current eddy. (http://www.roffs.com/2009BFT/ROFFS09056-077/ROFFS09056-077.mov).
We thank you in advance for your comments and support. All the imagery is being used in our research project and are not always pretty. Please let us know how you would like us to improve this site. We have recently re-standardized our image sizes, but the products we create and display will be subject to what we have to send to the NOAA research vessel during their research cruise which starts March 27, 2009.
You have our permission to use the data in presentations and research as long as you give ROFFS credit. You do not have permission to create commercial products from this imagery. We are always interested in partnering with others for research, outreach, and commercialization.
The more people that use this and other satellite imagery the better the world will be!
Mitchell Roffer, Ph.D.
Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc.
60 Westover Drive
West Melbourne, Florida 32904-5126
321.723.5759
http://www.roffs.com
roffers@bellsouth.net
| Posted: 11 September 2009 | Return to Top |
USGS SPARROW Model Estimates of Nitrogen Loading and Delivery to Streams and Coastal Areas in the Southeastern United States
The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program assessed total nitrogen loads and yields in streams throughout the southeastern United States using the USGS watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regression On Watershed Attributes).
Results from the southeast regional total nitrogen SPARROW model indicate that atmospheric deposition is the largest source of nitrogen delivered annually to many estuaries along the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, such as Mobile and Apalachicola Bays.
The regional model integrates Federal, State, and local agency monitoring data at 321 stations with geospatial data describing 2002 nitrogen sources (fertilizer, animal waste, and urban inputs, atmospheric deposition, and wastewater discharges) and watershed properties (soil characteristics, precipitation, and land cover). The combination of more calibration sites and refined geospatial data provides significant improvement over previous SPARROW models in prediction accuracy and the identification of regional nutrient sources and transport factors.
Results of this study are described in the journal Hydrological Processes article and detailed supplemental tables with model predictions for instream load and yield for 8,028 stream reaches and 293 shoreline reaches and the fraction of instream load that is delivered to the basin outlet.
Results from the southeast regional SPARROW model can be used to assess:
- transport of nitrogen to streams from watersheds,
- removal of nitrogen by processes within streams,
- contributions of nitrogen from different sources in watersheds,
- transport and delivery of nitrogen to receiving water bodies, including the 30 major estuaries along the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts,
- conditions and transport in unmonitored streams,
- priorities for future monitoring and assessment, and
- response of nitrogen levels to proposed management actions.
For more information on nitrogen loading and delivery to streams and coastal areas in the southeast, contact Anne Hoos (abhoos@usgs.gov).
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USGS releases estimates on spring nutrient delivery from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico
The amount of nutrients delivered from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in April and May of 2009 to the northern Gulf of Mexico was the tenth highest measured (about 295,000 metric tons of nitrate-nitrogen) by the U.S. Geological Survey in three decades. The amount of nutrients delivered in the spring is a primary factor controlling the size of the hypoxic zone that forms during the early summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico, which is the second largest hypoxic zone in the world. Hypoxic zones are areas where oxygen levels drop too low to support most aquatic life in the bottom and near-bottom waters.
In 2008, the hypoxic zone exceeded 20,000 square kilometers, an area similar in size to the state of New Jersey. The spring delivery of nitrogen in 2009 was about 23 percent lower than what was measured in 2008, but still about 11 percent above the average from 1979 to 2009. The amount of nutrients delivered to the Gulf each spring depends, in large part, on precipitation and the resulting amounts of nutrient runoff and streamflow in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin. Streamflows in spring 2009 were about 17 percent above average over the last 30 years.
In previous years, preliminary nutrient fluxes were estimated through June, and were provided in July. Researchers have reported that the May nutrient fluxes are more critical than June nutrient fluxes in determining the extent of the hypoxic zone for that summer. Thus, the USGS is now releasing preliminary estimates of the nutrient flux in mid-June to better address the needs of researchers predicting the size of the hypoxic zone.
For additional information and graphics on the spring and annual
fluxes of nitrite plus nitrate, total nitrogen, dissolved orthophosphate,
total phosphorus, dissolved silica, and runoff, including estimates
of uncertainty associated with the monthly and annual fluxes,
see the links below:
Preliminary
Monthly Streamflow and Nutrient Delivery to the Gulf of Mexico for
October to May 2009
Annual
Streamflow and Nutrient Flux of the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River
Basin and Subbasins for 1979 to 2008
These USGS estimates of the spring nutrient fluxes are used by scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), University of Michigan and other agencies and universities to predict the size of the mid-summer hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The hypoxic zone is later measured by LUMCON in July when the hypoxic zone is anticipated to be at its greatest extent.
For additional information on the spring or annual estimates of nutrient flux to the Gulf of Mexico, please contact Brent Aulenbach (btaulenb@usgs.gov).
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USGS Provides Water-Quality Information in a Format Compatible with EPA
To access the USGS water-quality web service, please go to http://qwwebservices.usgs.gov.
Water-quality data from the National Water Information System (NWIS) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) can be readily accessed online in a comparable format to data housed in the Storage and Retrieval (STORET) water-quality system of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA).
"For the first time, scientists, water managers, and others interested in water quality can retrieve USGS data in a format that can be easily merged with USEPA data for detailed analyses and modeling," said Matthew Larsen, USGS Associate Director for Water. "The merged data provide enhanced geographic coverage and depiction of water-quality conditions across the Nation, and the integration of spatial and temporal information from multiple agencies and programs help support analyses that go beyond what individual agencies can achieve individually."
Data are retrievable in a comparable format developed collaboratively between USGS and USEPA. The results include discrete provisional and finalized results of physical, chemical, biological, and other descriptive water-quality characteristics using comparable naming conventions. Several file formats are available from the web services including Extensible Markup Language (XML), tab-delimited text, Microsoft Excel and Google Earth Keyhole Markup Language (KML).
The USEPA water-quality web service provides data from the STORET data warehouse that contains biological, chemical, and physical data on surface and ground water collected by federal, state and local agencies, Indian Tribes, volunteer groups, academics, and others (http://www.epa.gov/storet/web_services.html). All 50 States, territories, and jurisdictions of the U.S. are represented.
The USGS water-quality web service provides data from the NWISweb database (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis), which hosts 4.3 million samples and 72 million results representing approximately 368,000 sites across the United States from over a century of monitoring.
This new water-quality web service is an integral part of the USGS mission to disseminate to the public water information in a reliable, impartial and timely fashion that is needed to understand the Nation’s water resources (http://water.usgs.gov/data).
USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.
For questions or more information, please contact Nate Booth, (608)-821-3822, nlbooth@usgs.gov or Timothy Miller, (703)-648-6868, tlmiller@usgs.gov.
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Mississippi River Basin flux estimates for nutrients released
USGS has finalized flux estimates for nutrients for the Mississippi River Basin and various subbasins for the Water Year 2007 (October 2006 - September 2007). Tables, maps, and graphics for download and viewing are available at http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/flux_ests/index.html.
The approved data extend the information provided by Aulenbach and others (2007) that covered through Water Year 2005 using the same approach and methodology (Aulenbach, B.T., Buxton, H.T., Battaglin, W.T., and Coupe R.H., 2007, Streamflow and nutrient fluxes of the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin and subbasins for the period of record through 2005: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1080).
Flux estimates are available for nitrite+nitrate, total nitrogen, dissolved ortho-phosphate, total phosphorus, and dissolved silica, and represent the following:
(1) Nutrient flux delivery from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basins to the Gulf of Mexico (as represented by water-quality information collected near St. Francisville, LA and Melville, LA);
(2) Nutrient flux estimates for nine major subbasins, as represented at 5 stations along the Mississippi River main stem, including the MS River at Clinton, IA; Grafton, IL; Omaha, NE; Hermann, MO; and Thebes, IL, and 4 stations along major tributaries including the Ohio River at Cannelton, IN and Grand Chain, IL; the Arkansas River below Little Rock, AR; and, the Red River at Alexandria, LA; and
(3) Nutrient flux estimates for 22 subbasins of varying size, hydrology, and land use. Data from these stations and others are used in modeling relations between watershed characteristics and nutrient yields and estimating nutrient yields in unmeasured subbasins.
Please note that a companion page is available (released in early July) on preliminaryflux estimates from October 2007 through June 2008, available at http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/oct_jun/index.html.
The USGS will update both of these pages on an annual basis. They will be aviailable from http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/nutrient_flux_yield_est.html.
Please don't hesitate to call me for questions or concerns.
Pixie Hamilton
USGS Office of Water Quality
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
1730 E. Parham Rd.
Richmond, VA 23228
(804) 261-2602 (ph)
(804) 261-2657 (fax)
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