Collecting water quality and other environmental data from the Bay requires a lot of measuring, communications and computer equipment. It also requires a lot of time spent in the field by NBC employees deploying, monitoring and maintaining the equipment.

Buoys like the one pictured to the left house a suite of sensors that constantly measure water quality parameters and store them in an on-board computer. The sensors record water temperature, salinity, pH, chlorine concentration, depth and dissolved oxygen around the clock.

The buoys send data on temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and chlorophyll through a radio transmission every fifteen minutes to a central computer at the Field's Point Wastewater Treatment Facility or the facility at Fall River. Fecal coliform and trace metal levels are measured at the NBC laboratory from samples collected at the monitoring stations. 

Some of the data collected by the sensors is made available within minutes so that present water quality conditions can be monitored.

These data are automatically analyzed and graphed as they come in from the monitoring stations and are transmitted via a web link to this EMPACT web site. The project researchers conduct further analysis and corrections on the data after they are received to ensure its scientific integrity. The corrected data are found in the Archived Data Center.

Data for a specified time period can be listed in tables, downloaded to a visitors PC, or displayed in a graph. View the data archive for a listing of all the data collected by the EMPACT sensors.

Real time data obtained from buoys have not been reviewed or edited and therefore may be subject to significant change. These data are not citable until review and approval by staff of this EMPACT grant. Changes to the data can occur as a result of

The data are reviewed and checked against other methods of measurement to ensure accuracy. The data are considered provisional until published or posted to the archived section of this site. The EMPACT project team cannot be held responsible nor assumes any liability for any damages caused by inaccuracies in this data or documentation, or as a result of the failure of the data or software to function in a particular manner. The EMPACT project team makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or utility of this information, nor does the fact of distribution constitute a warranty.