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Underwater measurements of photosynthetically active radiation from 2021 Lake Michigan CSMI survey

August 21, 2025

Underwater measurements of photosynthetically active radiation were collected along multiple transects throughout Lake Michigan during the 2021 cooperative science monitoring initiative survey of the lake. These data were collected as part of an effort to quantify the water transparency of the lake. The data included in this release provide the percent of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at depth for each sampling event across the lake. The percent PAR can be used to calculate other subsequent measurements including the 1% depth (m) or the depth below which effectively no light is penetrating and biological processes such as photosynthesis are no longer occurring.

Publication Year 2025
Title Underwater measurements of photosynthetically active radiation from 2021 Lake Michigan CSMI survey
DOI 10.5066/P13E7ZZF
Authors Nicole L Berry, Patricia M Dieter, David Bunnell
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Great Lakes Science Center
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
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