Research
System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP)
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System developed a nationwide
monitoring program to explore how natural events and human activities affect the
health of coastal ecosystems. As part of this program four automated instruments,
called dataloggers, will be permanently deployed at SF Bay NERR sites. The
dataloggers will measure and record water level, temperature, salinity,
dissolved oxygen, pH, and water clarity (turbidity) every fifteen minutes. These
data will be used by scientists to monitor short and long-term changes of the
water chemistry. The dataloggers are a central part of a larger monitoring effort
that also includes a weather station and biomonitoring programs.
National Estuarine Research Reserves also collect data on the level of nutrients (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, ortho-phosphate) in the water. Nutrient sampling is completed on a monthly basis at each of the four water quality stations, including a 24-hour sampling period at one of the stations. Monitoring nutrients is important because scientists have found a positive relationship between the amount of nutrients in the water and primary production. Real-time weather data from Rush Ranch and real-time water quality data from China Camp are available from the NERRS Centralized Data Management Office.