Michael Byrne 2006 tabular digital data http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/ebap/ To carry out the objectives of the study, a network of monitoring stations will be established and will include: (1) the monitoring of flow, water level, salinity, temperature, Acoustic Backscatter Strength (ABS), and turbidity near the mouth of three of four tributaries flowing into Estero Bay; (2) monitoring of water level, salinity, temperature, turbidity, wind speed and direction, and barometric pressure at one location inside the bay; (3) monitoring of water level, flow, salinity, temperature, and ABS at three of four tidal exchange points with the Gulf of Mexico along the barrier islands; (4) monitoring of water level (depth), salinity and temperature at one open-water location in the Gulf of Mexico. Estero Bay is a shallow estuary, across which salinity gradients from freshwater to saltwater occur over short land-sea distances. Such gradient compressions can result in a highly variable salinity environment and affect a diverse range of estuarine flora and fauna when even a small change in watershed runoff occurs. Rapid development within the bay's watershed has a changing effect on the amount, timing, and quality of runoff into the bay. Currently there is no information available to assess the effect that these alterations of runoff may have on the bay and its biota, nor to define watershed runoff and loading limits that provide desirable ranges in salinity and water quality at historical, current, and potential locations for seagrass, oysters, and other species of concern. To manage and preserve the Estero Bay ecosystem, it is necessary to: (1) understand the salinity patterns of the bay in relation to freshwater inflow and water exchange with the Gulf of Mexico; (2) describe the mixing and freshwater residence times within the bay; and (3) study the effects on light penetration from increased Total Suspended-Solids (TSS) load and re-suspension. Results from this study will facilitate management decisions geared toward defining flow and sediment loading limits that provide desirable ranges in salinity and water quality by providing necessary hydrological information. To carry out the objectives of the study, a network of monitoring stations will be established and will include: (1) the monitoring of flow, water level, salinity, temperature, Acoustic Backscatter Strength (ABS), and turbidity near the mouth of three of four tributaries flowing into Estero Bay; (2) monitoring of water level, salinity, temperature, turbidity, wind speed and direction, and barometric pressure at one location inside the bay; (3) monitoring of water level, flow, salinity, temperature, and ABS at three of four tidal exchange points with the Gulf of Mexico along the barrier islands; (4) monitoring of water level (depth), salinity and temperature at one open-water location in the Gulf of Mexico. 200110 20050930 ground condition Complete None planned -81.96 -81.83 26.47 26.33 none stage salinity discharge temperature hydrology chemistry water quality ISO 19115 Topic Category environment inlandWaters 007 012 Department of Commerce, 1995, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions, Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4, Washington, D.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology United States US U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 5-2): Washington, D. C., NIST Florida FL Department of Commerce, 1990, Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas, FIPS 6-3, Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology Lee County USGS Geographic Names Information System Estero Bay Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve Cow Creek Estero River Horseshoe Keys Imperial River Mullock Creek none Greater Lake Okeechobee Matanzas Pass Bridge Fishtrap Bay Big Carlos Big Hickory none none Michael Byrne U.S. Geologcial Survey mailing and physical address

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 70, Royal Palm Square

Fort Myers FL 33907 USA 239 275-8448 ext. 10 239 275-6820 mbyrne@usgs.gov http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/ebap/estero_bayx.jpg image map of Estero Bay JPEG Project personnel include Jessica Flanigin Data are available as text or .pdf files Hittle, Clinton Patino, Eduardo; Zucker, Mark 2001 report USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 01-4164 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey http://fl.water.usgs.gov/Abstracts/wri01_4164_hittle.html Gray, J. R. Glysson, G. D.; Turcios, L. M.; Schwartz, G. E. 2000 report USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 00-4191 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri004191 Patino, Eduardo 1996 report USGS Open-File Report 96-137 Tallahassee, FL U.S. Geological Survey http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/pubs/ofr/ofr96137 Salinity and temperature were collected for all stations. Stage, discharge, and wind information were collected in addition at some stations All monitoring was done according to USGS protocol, methods, and techniques. Flow monitoring stations were equipped with acoustic instrumentation for the measurement of water velocity and an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler was used for discharge calibrations during different hydrologic and tide conditions. Stage, discharge, salinity and temperature were collected at Big Carlos, Big Hickory, Estero River near mouth, Imperial River, and Matanzas Pass Bridge for 2002-2005. Salinity and temperature were collected at Cow Creek for 2003 and at Fishtrap Bay near Bonita Beach for 2002-2005. Stage, salinity, and temperature were collected at Boundary site-Matanzas Pass at Pass marker 1 for 2002-2004 and at Mullock Creek near mouth for 2002-2005. Stage, salinity, temperature, and wind speed and direction were collected at Estero Bay near Horseshoe Keys for 2002-2005. unknown The description of salinity patterns for Estero Bay will be accomplished by determining freshwater residence times within the bay and by analyzing salinity data collected at the freshwater inflow points, the inner-bay, barrier islands boundary, and the open-water station. Analysis of turbidity data will be limited to inflow and inner-bay stations. Freshwater runoff residence times will be calculated by determining the period of time it takes for salinity to return to levels existing prior to storms or runoff events (managed releases at control structures). The significance of effects from hydrologic events on salinity patterns will be evaluated by measuring the extent of salinity variations prior, during, and after storms at all monitoring stations within the study area, and the effects on turbidity by measuring variations at inflow points due to increased flow and at the inner-bay by analyzing turbidity data in relation to wind speed and direction (sediment re-suspension). Freshwater flows from tributaries flowing into the bay will be determined from data currently collected and computed by the Fort Myers USGS Field office personnel in conjunction with calculated net flow data from tributary stations. Due to the location of the proposed sites and the availability of rainfall data from other agencies in areas nearby the study area, rainfall data will not be collected as part of the monitoring effort. Water samples for TSS and SSC analyses will be collected near the mouth of the three tributaries flowing into Estero Bay. Both laboratory analyses will be done with duplicate samples in order to address possible bias as described in WRI 00-4191. Continuous ABS and turbidity data will be collected at the three tributary sites and regression analyses will be used to determine if correlation can be obtained and time-series records of TSS concentrations produced. 2005 Michael Byrne U.S. Geologcial Survey mailing and physical address

1400 Colonial Blvd. Suite 70, Royal Palm Square

Fort Myers FL 33907 USA 239 275-8448 ext. 10 239 275-6820 mbyrne@usgs.gov Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve Point Point 10 1 1 Degrees, minutes, and decimal seconds North American Datum of 1983 Geodetic Reference System 80 6378137 298.257 National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 0.01 feet Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates Time is measured in 15 minute intervals Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Divide the minutes by 60 to convert to decimal hours. Stage (tide/gage) is measured in feet, discharge is measured in cubic feet per second (cfs), salinity is measured in parts per thousand (ppt), and temperature is measured in degrees Celcius. USGS Heather S.Henkel U.S. Geological Survey mailing address

600 Fourth St. South

St. Petersburg FL 33701 USA 727 803-8747 ext 3028 727 803-2030 hhenkel@usgs.gov Hydrological Data The data have no implied or explicit guarantees text unknown The data are available as Data (.dat), comma-separated value (.csv), or text (.txt) files 4 http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/estero_bay_ap Log onto the SOFIA website at http://sofia.usgs.gov Adobe pdf unknown The pdf files are summary files for each collection station http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/estero_bay_ap Log onto the SOFIA website at http://sofia.usgs.gov none 20070919 Heather Henkel U.S. Geological Survey mailing and physical address

600 Fourth Street South

St. Petersburg FL 33701 USA 727 803-8747 ext 3028 727 803-2030 sofia-metadata@usgs.gov Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998