Phillipsdale Landing
The sondes were deployed on May 9th as a new setup was devised to circumvent the dock. Also, please note that the depth sensor was malfunctioning for the first day of deployment. Due to the sondes being deployed on May 9th, we only have data from a portion of the month. Overall, water quality at Phillipsdale Landing was good this week. Weather conditions this week included light rain, with a total of 0.27 inches as recorded at T.F. Green. The Blackstone River flow declined over the course of the week from its increased flow due to the May 2nd storm. Surface salinity remained well below bottom salinity. Salinity at the surface averaged 6.3 ppt and ranged from 3.4 ppt to 10.4 ppt. At the bottom, salinity averaged 19.5 ppt and ranged from 6.9 ppt to 27.9 ppt. Temperatures this week averaged 17.6°C at the surface and 14.7°C at the bottom. Surface temperatures ranged from 14.2°C to 21.3°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 12.7°C to 17.9°C.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) at Phillipsdale Landing remained above the hypoxia threshold of 2.9 mg/L throughout the week. Surface DO did drop slightly compared to the last reading in April, averaging 9.4 mg/L and ranging 7.9 – 10.9 mg/L. Bottom water DO concentration averaged 6.9 mg/L and ranged from 5.1 mg/L to 9.5 mg/L. Chlorophyll remained low, averaging 3.4 ug/L at the surface and 5.1 ug/L at the bottom. Maximum surface chlorophyll readings reached 30.3 ug/L, recorded on the morning of May 13th. Please note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flows greatly influence water column salinity, temperature, and DO at this location.
Bullock Reach
Bullock Reach sondes will be deployed later this spring for the 2023 monitoring season.