Reeling in a Great Lakes Observing Science buoyDear AGU: We are on board the NOAA–Great
Reeling in a Great Lakes Observing Science buoy Dear AGU: We are on board the NOAA–Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory’s Buoy Tender R5503 in mid-November 2021 retrieving the Muskegon Lake Observatory buoy at the end of the growing season and before ice sets in (www.gvsu.edu/buoy/). The Observatory acquires high-frequency weather and water quality data (~1 million data points each year) in this urbanized Great Lakes estuary impacted by eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and bottom water hypoxia – with findings having relevance to coastal ecosystems everywhere that are similarly afflicted by anthropogenic disturbance and ongoing climate change. This 11-year-long Lake Observing Science project keeps track of ongoing ecosystem changes in a model freshwater estuary, provides open-access environmental data in near-real time for advancing science, education and outreach, and exemplifies a fruitful collaboration between a regional university and a national laboratory. – Bopi Biddanda (Annis Water Resources Institute, Grand Valley State University, Muskegon, Michigan, USA www.gvsu.edu/wri/), Todd Roetman, Andrew Yagiela and Dan Burlingame (NOAA-Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Lake Michigan Field Station, Muskegon, Michigan, USA www.glerl.noaa.gov/). -- source link