Monthly Report: January 2019

Transcription

1 Monthly Report: BARUCH INSTITUTE OF COASTAL ECOLOGY AND FOREST SCIENCE Highway 17 North PO Box 596 Georgetown, SC P (843) F (843) To: Steven Fischer, Mary Richards, and Nathan Dayan US Army Corps of Engineers - Savannah District 100 W. Oglethorpe Ave. Savannah, GA By: Jamie Duberstein USACE Savannah District: Please see the bulleted list below for the major actions and accomplishments associated with the estuary vegetation monitoring for the month of. Funding for this monitoring expired in December Out of sincere regard for the health of the estuary, we are continuing to download data, perform routine maintenance, and measure tree growth. However, we are unable to replace failed salinity sensors due to lack of funding, resulting in extended periods of data loss. Please let me know if you would like me to elaborate on the details of any items I ve listed below, or if there are any status updates you d like on unlisted topics. Thank you, Jamie Report, p.1

2 Marsh Vegetation There are no updates on marsh vegetation at this time. Water Data Data from all water sensors were downloaded on An updated salinity summary (min, max, avg) for all marsh and forest monitoring areas for the current fiscal year is provided as Table 1. To avoid misinterpretation or confusion, we do not provide summaries for a portion of a given month (e.g., January). There were an additional 2 sensors that failed in January. We have no replacement sensors. An updated list of salinity data losses for FY19 is provided in Table 2. We use a YSI Pro30 handheld salinity meter to take discrete monthly measurements of interstitial salinity immediately after removing the Aquatrolls from monitoring wells (to download data and clean). This is done to identify problems and/or verify accuracy of deployed sensors. A comparison of temporally similar measurements taken in January is provided in Table 3. o Wells were pumped to remove sediments that would otherwise accumulate, cover the sensors, and reduce accuracy. Forest monitoring Monthly measurements of baldcypress tree growth were last taken on 16. Average basal area changes since last measurement: o Swamp 1: 0.1 cm 2 (12 December 16 January) o Swamp 2: 0.2 cm 2 (12 December 16 January) o Swamp 3: 0.1 cm 2 (12 December 16 January) Report, p.2

3 Table 1. Fiscal Year 2019 monthly average, minimum, and maximum salinity (psu: practical salinity units) measured via sensors at above- and below-ground locations at (12) marsh monitoring areas and (3) tidal forest areas. Summaries are based on hourly measurements starting 01 October 2018 through 31 December 2018 for all monitoring areas unless noted by superscript; details of data losses are provided in Table 2. Measurements taken during dry well conditions were removed from calculations of summary statistics. Back 1 October (0.03) a 0.00 a 0.79 a 0.57 (0.00) November (0.03) a 0.00 a 0.45 a 0.55 (0.00) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.01) a 0.00 a 0.79 a 0.56 (0.00) Back 2 October (0.02) a 0.00 a 1.25 a 0.55 (0.00) November (0.01) (0.00) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.01) a 0.00 a 1.66 a 0.49 (0.00) a Incomplete data record. See Table 2 for details. Report, p.3

4 Back 3 October (0.05) a 0.00 a 3.85 a 1.50 (0.01) November (0.02) (0.01) December (0.00) (0.01) FY (0.02) a 0.00 a 3.85 a 1.26 (0.01) Back 3.5 October (0.05) (0.01) November (0.02) (0.00) a 2.37 a 2.83 a December (0.00) N/A a,b N/A a,b N/A a,b FY (0.03) (0.01) a 2.16 a 3.73 a a Incomplete data record. See Table 2 for details. b Sensor failed and no replacement was available due to lack of funds. Report, p.4

5 Back 4 October (0.13) (0.02) November (0.06) (0.03) December (0.02) (0.02) a 1.38 a 3.44 a FY (0.07) (0.02) a 2.79 a 7.18 a Front 1 October (0.01) (0.00) November (0.01) (0.00) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.01) (0.00) a Incomplete data record. See Table 2 for details. Report, p.5

6 Front 2 October (0.05) a 0.00 a 4.15 a 1.98 (0.02) November (0.05) a 0.00 a 2.74 a 1.66 (0.01) December 2018 N/A a,b N/A a,b N/A a,b 1.29 (0.01) FY (0.04) a 0.00 a 4.15 a 1.82 (0.01) Middle 1 October (0.03) (0.01) November (0.01) (0.01) December (0.01) (0.00) FY (0.01) (0.01) a Incomplete data record. See Table 2 for details. b Sensor failed and no replacement was available due to lack of funds. Report, p.6

7 Middle 2 October (0.06) a 0.00 a 2.34 a 1.17 (0.02) November (0.04) a 0.00 a 1.16 a 0.65 (0.01) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.04) a 0.00 a 2.34 a 0.91 (0.01) Middle 3 October (0.04) (0.01) November (0.04) (0.02) December (0.00) (0.02) FY (0.03) (0.01) a Incomplete data record. See Table 2 for details. Report, p.7

8 Middle 4 October (0.08) (0.02) November (0.04) (0.03) December (0.00) (0.03) FY (0.05) (0.02) Middle 5 October (0.06) (0.02) November (0.06) (0.01) December (0.00) (0.01) a 1.87 a 2.19 a FY (0.04) (0.01) a 1.64 a 3.56 a a Incomplete data record. See Table 2 for details. Report, p.8

9 Swamp 1 October (0.00) (0.00) November (0.00) (0.00) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.00) (0.00) Swamp 2 October (0.00) (0.00) November (0.00) (0.00) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.00) (0.00) Report, p.9

10 Swamp 3 October (0.01) (0.00) November (0.00) (0.00) December (0.00) (0.00) FY (0.01) (0.00) Report, p.10

11 Table 2. Summary of FY19 salinity data losses from Aquatroll sensors deployed at SHEP monitoring areas between the dates of 01 October Data loss periods and number of days may include periods within FY18. Minor data losses were incurred when data were downloaded near pre-programmed sensor measurements. Water level data losses may be beyond dates listed below. Data loss period Area Position Beginning End # Days % Time Reason Back 1 Aboveground 10/12/ :00 11/09/ : Sensor failure Back 2 Aboveground 10/22/ :00 10/26/ : Sensor failure Back 3 Aboveground 10/21/ :00 10/26/ : Sensor failure Back 3.5 Belowground 11/16/ :00 01/15/ : Sensor failure a Back 4 Belowground 12/09/ :00 12/11/ : Sensor failure Middle 2 Aboveground 10/21/ :00 11/09/ : Sensor failure Middle 5 Belowground 12/06/ :00 01/15/ : Sensor failure a Front 2 Aboveground 10/21/ :00 10/25/ : Sensor failure Front 2 Aboveground 11/17/ :00 01/16/ : Sensor failure a a Sensor failed and no replacement was available due to lapse in funding. Report, p.11

12 Table 3. Comparison of belowground salinity measurements taken via autonomous sensors (In-Situ Aquatrolls) versus a "spot check" measured via handheld YSI salinity meter (units: parts per thousand = ppt). Reports typically provide summaries of hourly Aquatroll measurements of salinity as practical salinity units (psu) though measurements of total dissolved solids as parts per thousand (ppt) are also collected. Here we report both Aquatroll measurements to facilitate comparisons with handheld YSI measurements. Accuracy of the handheld YSI meter is 0.1 (ppt), while accuracy of the Aquatrolls is (psu, ppt); Aquatroll values were rounded to the nearest 0.1 to facilitate comparisons. Site Aquatroll Salinity (psu) Aquatroll Total Dissolved Soilds (ppt) YSI "spot check" (ppt) YSI Measurement Time Aquatroll Measurement Time Back /15/ :51 01/15/ :00 Back /15/ :44 01/15/ :00 Back /15/ :18 01/15/ :00 Back 3.5 N/A a N/A a /15/ :57 N/A a Back /15/ :26 01/15/ :00 Front /15/ :10 01/15/ :00 Front /16/ :14 01/15/ :00 Middle /15/ :13 01/15/ :00 Middle /15/ :52 01/15/ :00 Middle /15/ :32 01/15/ :00 Middle /15/ :54 01/15/ :00 Middle 5 N/A a N/A a /15/ :34 N/A a Swamp /16/ :42 01/16/ :00 Swamp /16/ :49 01/16/ :00 Swamp /16/ :41 01/16/ :00 a No comparison is possible because the belowground sensor was not logging during the time of the spot check. See Table 2 for details. Report, p.12