Data

The Chesapeake Bay Hyper-Resolution Hydrography Database is intended to facilitate analysis of the landscape in the Chesapeake Bay watershed through identification of headwater and other low-order streams or drainage features (e.g. ditches) that, to date, may be absent from existing hydrography data products. A full description of the methodology and accuracy assessment is provided in...

Results of statistical analyses of nontidal and tidal station measurements of suspended sediment concentrations in the Chesapeake Bay and watershed, collected from 1984-2021 by Chesapeake Bay Program and partners and the U.S. Geological Survey. Original measurements were retrieved from online data repositories.

The Chesapeake Stream Team studied 123 streams from 2021 to 2024 to determine whether conservation practices in agricultural and urban settings have improved downstream nontidal stream health. To isolate effects of conservation practices, scientists must account for other attributes in the greater watershed that may affect measured metrics of stream health. This release includes over 450

This data release provides contaminant data from bed sediment collected from small streams between 2021 and 2024 in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. These data are part of a larger study designed to determine how conservation practices are affecting local stream ecosystem health, which stressors are negatively impacting streams, and which landscape characteristics are associated with better...

From 12 May – 18 May 2023, a Virginia Tech team of 2-3 sampled the macroinvertebrate community in 30 Upper Northern Piedmont streams (Maryland and Pennsylvania, USA) as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature, fish community, and fish health at the same 30 streams. Macroinvertebrates were sampled using a 500...

Data shows radioisotope measurements (Pb-210 and Cs-137) of sediment cores from four coastal wetlands along the Chesapeake Bay (one core from each site). Cores were sectioned every 1-2 cm depth.

In July 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Maryland's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory conducted a study, USGS Field Activity Number (FAN) 2022-020-FA, in Chesapeake Bay to quantify greenhouse gas fluxes from the largest estuary in the United States. The team investigated the environmental factors that control the distribution and exchange of methane and carbon...

The database for the Washington West 30- by 60-minute quadrangle covers an area of approximately 4,884 square kilometers (1,343 square miles) in and west of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The eastern part of the area is highly urbanized, and more rural areas to the west are rapidly being developed. The area lies entirely within the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin and mostly...

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed were calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network (NTN) stations for the period 1985 through 2023. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (Weighted...

Marsh migration potential in the Chesapeake Bay (CB) salt marshes is calculated in terms of available migration area for each marsh unit defined by Ackerman and others (2022). The space available for landward migration is based on the NOAA marsh migration predictions under 2.0 feet of local sea-level rise (SLR). The migration space is further divided by National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)...

The survey was conducted to assess the distribution of terrapins in the Chesapeake Bay, based on evidence related to nesting. We conducted a survey of the beaches during the nesting season in the summer of 2002. We walked along the shoreline of over 1350 beach segments looking for evidence signifying the presence of terrapins based on nesting activity. These results represent a single...

From May 27 to June 21, 2024, a Virginia Tech team of 5 sampled the fish community in 30 streams spanning a gradient of the developed landscape, including Potomac River, Rappahannock River, and upper Chesapeake Bay tributaries of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, USA. These fish surveys were part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology...