Data Management Plan

Water quality observations made over long time periods can provide important feedback to scientists and to local, state, and national resource managers about actions taken to manage, protect, and restore estuaries. They also provide valuable information for evaluating the impacts of environmental change on coastal habitats and species. There are at least four water quality stations at each National Estuarine Research Reserve. Each station is designed to characterize long-term variability and short term changes in environmental conditions. Discrete samples for nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations are collected at each long-term monitoring station at least once monthly. More intensive (24-hours over a complete tidal cycle) sampling is conducted each month at one water quality monitoring station to better understand impacts of tide and irradiance on nutrient cycling. Nutrient parameters collected include: nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, orthophosphate, and chlorophyll a. Numerous optional parameters include dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, and total dissolved phosphorous. The National Estuarine Research Reserves is a network of 30 reserves protected for long-term research, ecosystem monitoring, education, and coastal stewardship. Established by the Coastal Zone Management Act, the reserve system is a partnership program between NOAA and the coastal states. NOAA provides funding, national guidance, and technical assistance. Each reserve is managed on daily basis by a lead state agency or university with input from local partners. These data are collected as part of the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP), which includes (1) abiotic indicators of water quality and weather; (2) biological monitoring; and (3) watershed, habitat, and land use mapping. Data were collected under individual Reserve NOAA grant/cooperative agreements and managed by the CDMO under NOAA grant/cooperative agreement #NA23NOS4200321 (2023) and prior grants. For more information on Reserve locations and programs, please visit www.nerrsdata.org or https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/.

Lineage Statement:
Data were collected per CDMO protocols and analyzed by the Reserve's laboratory of choice. Individual laboratory protocols are included in data transmissions. QAQC is performed by Reserve staff and the CDMO as described at: www.nerrsdata.org/data/qaqc.cfm.

Reserves collect and process (filter/preserve) samples, then transport to their laboratory of choice for analysis. The laboratory returns data to Reserve staff where they use tools provided by the CDMO, Microsoft Excel macros, to perform secondary QAQC on the data. Data that have been through secondary QAQC are submitted back to the CDMO and ingested into the database annually; these data are posted as provisional plus. After annual submission to the CDMO is complete, the data undergo final tertiary QAQC by the CDMO. The data and its accompanying metadata documentation are checked for completeness before dissemination as authenticated historical data via the CDMO Online Data Information Server at www.nerrsdata.org. Processing/QAQC stages are clearly denoted within the data file transmission and are ongoing, the process date given below reflects the years this metadata record was created.