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. Data are collected with data loggers at fifteen minute intervals and instruments are deployed continuously and year round where possible. Water quality parameters collected include: water temperature, specific conductivity, salinity, percent saturation of dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen concentration, pH, depth, and turbidity. Chlorohpyll fluorescence is an optional parameter and pressure corrected water depth is a calculated value. 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 #NA22NOS4200128 (2022) 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 run through automated quality assurance/quality control (QAQC) checks for sensor range, missing, or garbled data. Sensors are calibrated per manufacturer's instructions and CDMO protocols. Field conditions are noted at equipment deployment and retrieval. Deployments are limited to a maximum of four weeks. Post-deployment calibration checks are also conducted and noted per the manufacturer's instructions and CDMO protocols. Additional QAQC is performed by Reserve staff and the CDMO as described at: www.nerrsdata.org/data/qaqc.cfm.

All NERR SWMP data incur primary data QAQC (automated checks) at the CDMO within one week of data retrieval as the provisional data are ingested into the CDMO database. The data are then emailed back to the Reserve where Reserve staff 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 quarterly and again 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.