High-speed, continuous water quality mapping of Utah Lake, Salt Lake City, UT

Real-time, high frequency (1-second sample interval), georeferenced water quality data was collected in Utah Lake, Utah. Utah Lake is located approximately 45 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah, and approximately 5 miles west of Provo, Utah. Data was collected on 8/1/16 over an approximate 6.5-hour period (8:00 14:30 h PST) while underway. Sample water was continuously pumped through a pickup tube mounted at the stern of the vessel. Sample was pre-filtered using a 178 um in-line strainer, passed through a de-bubbler, and diverted into three parallel flow paths (2 unfiltered, 1 filtered) to various water quality instrumentation. Data was handled by a Campbell Scientific CR-6 data logger and recorded continuously to a Microsoft Excel file. Data was displayed in real-time for quality control.

Water quality data was processed using an excel macro designed to remove outliers using a 20 second median, followed by a 30 second average. Data includes timestamped, GPS location (latitude, longitude), temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration and percent saturation, turbidity, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM), deep ultra violet (UV), 3 channel DOM fluorometer, transmission/attenuation (670 nm), nitrate, in vivo chlorophyll-a fluorescence (fCHLA), and in vivo phycocyanin fluorescence (blue green algae proxy). More detailed description of methods of collection and instrumentation are outlined in Downing et al. 2016. Data were collected in an effort to characterize the spatial distribution of nutrients and phytoplankton productivity and taxonomy across Utah Lake. This data set is the first of its kind on Utah Lake. The data will be useful to research of related of algal species, especially harmful algal blooms and water quality in Utah Lake.