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Florida Bay Bottom Salinity maps

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title: Florida Bay Bottom Salinity maps
Abstract:
The maps show the bottom salinity for Florida Bay at 5ppt salinity intervals approximately every other month beginning in November 1994 through December 1996
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Robert Halley (1994-1996) Dewi, Mark Hansen (1994-1996), 1997, Florida Bay Bottom Salinity maps: USGS Open-File Report OFR 95-634, maps 1B-13B, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston VA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -81.167
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -80.33
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 25.33
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.83

  3. What does it look like?

    <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/halley/locationsalt.html> (GIF)
    Florida Bay Salinity Data Location Map

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning_Date: Nov-1994
    Ending_Date: Dec-1996
    Currentness_Reference: bottom conditions

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      Indirect_Spatial_Reference: Florida Bay

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.0001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.0001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    Salinity data was collected by R. Halley, K. Ludwig, Rita Byrd, K. Geraghty, M. Moyle, L. Roulier, D. Wiese, B, Zalew, and Nancy DeWitt. Additional data was provided by Everglades National Park, and the South Florida Water Management District.

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Robert Halley
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Project Chief
    600 Fourth Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 ext 3020 (voice)
    727 803-2030 (FAX)
    rhalley@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

Recent algal blooms and seagrass mortality have raised concerns about the water quality of Florida Bay, particularly its nutrient content (nitrogen and phosphorous), hypersalinity, and turbidity. Water quality is closely tied to sediment transport processes because resuspension of sediments increases turbidity, releases stored nutrients, and facilitates sediment export to the reef tract.

The objective of this research is to provide a better understanding of how and when sediments within Florida Bay are resuspended and deposited, to define the spatial distribution of the potential for resuspension, to delineate patterns of potential bathymetric change, and to predict the impacts of storms or seagrass die-off on bathymetry and circulation within the bay. By combining these results with the findings of other research being conducted in Florida Bay, we hope to quantify sediment export from the bay, better define the nutrient input during resuspension events, and assist in modeling circulation and water quality. Results will enable long-term sediment deposition and erosion in various regions of the bay to be integrated with data on the anticipated sea-level rise to predict future water depths and volumes. Results from this project, together with established sediment production rates, will provide the basis for a sediment budget for Florida Bay.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 1996 (process 1 of 1)
    The USGS conducted salinity surveys of Florida Bay approximately every other month from November 1994 through November 2001. The data collected during the surveys were supplemented with point data from Everglades National Park marine monitoring continuous stations and the South Florida Water Management District water quality monitoring stations collected by the Southeast Environmental Research Program at Florida International University from 1994 through 1997. The data were assembled and contoured using CPS3 (Contour Plotting System) software version 4.2 and ARC/INFO 7.0.3 to produce maps of the bottom salinity in Florida Bay. Data points are shown on the maps. Surveys typically took between 3 and 5 days, depending on weather. Between 1994 and the summer of 1996 each survey collected salinity data at between 250 and 350 stations each consisting of a surface measurement 15 cm below the surface and a measurement on the bottom.

    During the summer and fall of 1996, the USGS developed a digital measuring system so that subsequent surveys collected several thousand surface measurements. Due to the new digital system, the USGS no longer uses the South Florida Water Management District data nor the Everglades National Park data. Bottom salinity surveys were discontinued after December 1996.

    Mention of specific software or hardware products does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Robert Halley
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Project Chief
    600 Fourth Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 ext 3020 (voice)
    727 803-2030 (FAX)
    rhalley@usgs.gov

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

    Boscence, D., 1989, Biogenic carbonate production in Florida Bay: Bulletin of Marine Science 44(1): 419-433, University of Florida Press, Coral Gables, FL.

    Frankignoulle, M., 1988, Field Measurements of air-sea CO2 exchange: Limnology and Oceanography 33(3):313-322, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Washington, D.C..

    Millero, F. J., 1979, The thermodynamics of the carbonate system in seawater: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 43:1651-1661, Geochemical Society (Elsevier Science Ltd.), Oxon, United Kingdom.

    Smith, S. V. Key, G. S., 1975, 1975 Carbon dioxide and metabolism in marine environments: Limnology and Oceanography 20:493-495, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Washington, DC.

    Stockman, K. W. Ginsburg, R. N., Shinn, E. , 1967, The production of lime mud by algae in South Florida: Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 37(2):633-648, S E P M Society for Sedimentary Geology, Tulsa, OK.

    Sugiura, Y. Ibert, E. R., Hood, D. W., 1963, Mass transfer of carbon dioxide across sea surfaces: Journal of Marine Research 21(1):11-24, Sears Foundation for Marine Research, New Haven, CT.

    Wanninkhof, R., 1992, Relationship between wind speed and gas exchange over the ocean: Journal of Geophysical Research 97:7373-7382, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.

    Barnes, D. J., 1983, Profiling coral reef productivity and calcification using pH and oxygen electrodes: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 66:149-161, Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Barnes, D. J. Devereux, M. J., 1984, Productivity and calcification on a coral reef: a survey using pH and oxygen electrode techniques: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 79:213-231, Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Frankignoulle, M. Disteche, A., 1984, CO2 chemistry in the water column above a Posidonia seagrass bed and related air-sea exchanges: Oceanologica Acta 7(2):209-219, Institute Franceis de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer, Paris, France.

    Gattuso, J. P. Pichon, M., Delesalle, B., , 1993, Community metabolism and air-sea CO2 fluxes in a coral reef ecosystem (Moorea, French Polynesia): Marine Ecology Progress Series 96:259-267, Inter-Research, Oldendorf, Germany.

    Kayanne, H. Suzuki, A., Saito, H., 1995, Diurnal changes in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in coral reef water: Science 269:214-216, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC.

    Smith, S. V., 1973, Carbon dioxide dynamics: a record of organic carbon production, respiration, and calcification in the Eniwetok reef flat community: Limnology and Oceanography 18(1):106-120, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Washington, DC.

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Local information was recorded in the Bay using a DIO-issued military style GPSunit - Rockwell Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver PLGR+96 with a precision of +/- 10m.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    Bottom salinity maps are available for November, 1994; January, April, June, August, October, and December, 1995; and February, April, June, August, October, and December, 1996

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    The salinity maps are based on data gathered by USGS with additional data provided by Everglades National Park (ENP) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: none
Use_Constraints: none

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Heather S.Henkel
    U.S. Geological Survey
    600 Fourth St. South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
    727 803-2030 (FAX)
    hhenkel@usgs.gov

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Florida Bay Bottom Salinity maps

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    No warrantees are implied or explicit for the data

  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 04-Oct-2006
Metadata author:
Heather Henkel
U.S. Geological Survey
600 Fourth Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
USA

727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
727 803-2030 (FAX)
sofia-metadata@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

This page is <http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata/sflwww/FBbslmap.faq.html>

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal Geology
Comments and suggestions? Contact: Heather Henkel - Webmaster
Generated by mp version 2.8.18 on Wed Oct 04 11:53:44 2006