2022 water quality data collected on a YSI EXO2 multiparameter sonde at the MarineGEO Upper Chesapeake Bay observatory (USA-MDA), Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA. Location: 38.886928, -76.540172

The authors thank the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) data group for their collaboration and support. The flag and code system used in this dataset is a modified version of NERRS SWMP quality assurance and quality control protocols with changes made to fit unique site conditions and data collection methods. Numeric flags are applied to the data algorithmically to note observations that are in/out of range or missing. Character codes are applied by MarineGEO technicians and add context for groups of observations - for example, noting data that looks suspicious or extreme weather events.

DESCRIPTION OF FILES INCLUDED IN THE DATA PUBLICATION

data_2022_water-quality_USA-MDA.csv: Data collected on a YSI EXO2 multiparameter sonde. We have removed observations that have failed quality control tests. If an entire record has failed, due to an “Out of Water” event, for instance, the row has been removed from the data file. If only a single parameter or sensor has failed quality control tests, those values have been changed to NA. The codes file contains metadata about values and rows that have been removed. 

dictionary_2022_water-quality_USA-MDA.csv: This file includes both the unit and description of all paramters, as well as the definition of any quality control codes used in the data file. 

codes_USA-MDA_2019_water-quality.csv
This file contains all quality control codes that have been assigned to the data. The definition for each code is found in the dictionary.