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Visualizations of water quality across the conterminous United States using SPARROW 2012 simulated nutrient load estimates

January 13, 2025
This pipeline uses the data from the 2012 regional Sparrow models (see **Input datasets** below) to produce four types of outputs: 1. Maps of SPARROW-estimated total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total suspended-sediment yields and concentrations across the conterminous United States (CONUS); 2. Bar plots showing the amount of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment load generated within each of the 18 aggregated level 3 eco-regions that make up the CONUS, including the relative contribution from each source to the total regional load; 3. Maps showing a comparison between the SPARROW-estimated total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations and the EPA’s National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA) benchmark nutrient concentrations within each aggregated level 3 eco-region; and 4. A data table that shows the reach-level stoichiometric ratio between the SPARROW-estimated total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations and a comparison between those concentrations and the applicable EPA benchmark nutrient concentration.
Publication Year 2025
Title Visualizations of water quality across the conterminous United States using SPARROW 2012 simulated nutrient load estimates
DOI 10.5066/P14XRQ9R
Authors Anthony J Martinez, Elmera Azadpour, Julie A Padilla, Olivia L Miller, Matthew J Cashman
Product Type Software Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Water Resources Mission Area - Headquarters
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
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