Multisource surface-water-quality data and U.S. Geological Survey streamgage match for the Delaware River Basin
Dates
Start Date
1901-01-01
End Date
2019-05-30
Publication Date
2019-12-23
Citation
Shoda, M.E., Murphy, J.C., Falcone, J.A., and Duris, J.W., 2019, Multisource surface-water-quality data and U.S. Geological Survey streamgage match for the Delaware River Basin: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9PX8LZO.
Summary
Jointly managed by multiple states and the federal government, there are many ongoing efforts to characterize and understand water quality in the Delaware River Basin (DRB). Many State, Federal and non-profit organizations have collected surface-water-quality samples across the DRB for decades and many of these data are available through the National Water Quality Monitoring Council's Water Quality Portal (WQP). For this data release, WQP data in the DRB were harmonized, meaning that they were processed to create a clean and readily usable dataset. The harmonization process included the synthesis of parameter names and fractions, the condensation of remarks and other data qualifiers, the resolution of duplicate records, an initial [...]
Summary
Jointly managed by multiple states and the federal government, there are many ongoing efforts to characterize and understand water quality in the Delaware River Basin (DRB). Many State, Federal and non-profit organizations have collected surface-water-quality samples across the DRB for decades and many of these data are available through the National Water Quality Monitoring Council's Water Quality Portal (WQP). For this data release, WQP data in the DRB were harmonized, meaning that they were processed to create a clean and readily usable dataset. The harmonization process included the synthesis of parameter names and fractions, the condensation of remarks and other data qualifiers, the resolution of duplicate records, an initial quality control check of the data, and other steps described in this data release. The water-quality dataset provided is the harmonized discrete multisource surface-water-quality data pulled from the WQP and includes data for nutrients, sediment, salinity, major ions, bacteria, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and turbidity in the DRB, for all available years. The code and supplemental information used to create the water-quality dataset is included in this data release. Also provided is the USGS streamgage match table, which pairs the monitoring sites in the water-quality dataset to USGS streamgages and lists basic streamgage information, including distance from the water-quality site and if the streamgage was recently active. Lastly, this data release includes a 12-page summary document, which includes a detailed description of the harmonization process, basic summaries of the water-quality dataset, and the results of a screening process in which water-quality sites were assessed for recent and long-term sampling and paired with nearby and recently active USGS streamgages. Please see the read me file for more information, including the organization of this data release and its contents.
Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.
Data.release.read.me.pdf “Read me file”
330.73 KB
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DRB.WQdata.summary.pdf “Summary of harmonized water-quality data”
3.05 MB
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Related External Resources
Type: Publication that references this resource
Murphy, J.C., and Shoda, M.E., 2020, Pooling resources across organizations—Multisource water-quality data for the Delaware River Basin: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020–3006, 2 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20203006.
Murphy, J.C., and Shoda, M.E., 2020, A historical look at changing water quality in the Delaware River Basin: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020–3007, 2 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20203007.
Shoda, M., Gain, E.G., and Murphy, J.C., 2023, River water quality in the Delaware River Basin—Concentrations and trends through 2018: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2023–3014, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20233014.
Shoda, M.E., and Murphy, J.C., 2022, Water-quality tre=nds in the Delaware River Basin calculated using multisource data and two methods for trend periods ending in 2018: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2022–5097, 60 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225097.
Data were obtained from the Water Quality Portal and harmonized for use in the USGS Integrated Water Availability Assessment pilot project in the Delaware River Basin. Among the potential uses for these data are: analysis of current status and long-term trends, assessment of spatial and temporal gaps in monitoring, and water-quality modeling.
