Abstract:

Long-term coast-wide field-based environmental data (1978-2018) were obtained from public datasets in order to investigate the environmental factors that may influence the levels of impacts of hurricanes on coastal ecosystems. Soil data (Wet soil pH, Dry Soil pH, Soil Salinity, Soil Moisture Content, Bulk Density, Organic Matter) is presented for seventy-two sites in coastal Louisiana during the period 2008-01-15 to 2008-12-19. Water quality data (Nitrate+Nitrite Nitrogen, Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Phosphorus) is presented for eight sites in coastal Louisiana during the period 1978-03-08 to 2018-01-23.

Suggested Citation:

Mo, Yu. 2020. Soil and water quality data from coastal Louisiana, 1978-03-08 to 2018-01-23. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/Q80H2847

Publications:

Mo, Y., Kearney, M. S., & Turner, R. E. (2020). The resilience of coastal marshes to hurricanes: The potential impact of excess nutrients. Environment International, 138, 105409. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105409

Purpose:

To study the environmental factors that may impact the marshes’ resilience to hurricanes.

Data Parameters and Units:

Worksheet "Soil" - Sample Date (mm/dd/yyyy): Date the sample was collected; Station ID: ID assigned by the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS), LA; Latitude: Latitude of the sample site, in decimal degrees; Longitude: Longitude of the sample site, in decimal degrees; Sample Depth (cm): Depth of the cores collected (See Methods); Wet Soil pH (pH units): pH value of the wet soil; Dry Soil pH (pH units): pH value of the soil after drying; Soil Salinity (ppt): salt content in the soil; Soil Moisture Content (%): water content of the soil; Bulk Density (g/cm3): weight of soil in a given volume; Organic Matter (%): organic component of soil. Worksheet "Nutrients" - Site: Text description of the sampling location; Latitude: Latitude of the sample site, in decimal degrees; Longitude: Longitude of the sample site, in decimal degrees; Subsegment: Alphanumeric identifier assigned by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to the water body of the sampling location; Site number: Numeric Identifier assigned by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to the sampling location; Collection Date: Date the sample was collected. Data reported as MM-DD-YYYY or MM-DD-YYYY HH:MM; Year: Year the sample was collected; Month: Month the sample was collected; Result: Data value of the parameter in Column I, as originally downloaded from the public site (units in ppm or mg/L); Concentration: Numeric value of the parameter in Column I, with all values converted to ppm; Parameter: Variable being measured (Nitrate+Nitrite Nitrogen, Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Phosphorus); Para: Abbreviation for the variable being measured (NNN, KN, P).

Methods:

Soil data was obtained from Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR) Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS), https://www.lacoast.gov/crms2/Home.aspx. Measurements were taken from three soil cores of the upper 16 cm sediment from each site. The values reported in this data set are the average of four 4-cm sections from each core, yielding a “0-16 cm value”. Nutrient data (NNN, KN, P) was obtained from Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Data, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), Environmental Data Center (LEDC). http://deq.louisiana.gov/page/ambient-water-quality-monitoring-data.

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