Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Survey data from Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie.

Sampling and sample processing followed Salk et al., (2018).

Briefly, at each sampling location, water column physical and chemical parameters (pH, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen) were measured using a YSI 600QS sonde (YSI Inc., Yellow Springs, OH, USA). Water samples were collected by Van Dorn bottle at 1m depth for the analysis of NO3, NH4, phosphate, TKN, TP, chl a concentrations, total microcystins and cell identification/biovolume enumeration. Samples for dissolved nutrient analysis were filtered immediately upon collection (0.2 um), kept on ice, and frozen upon return to the lab. Unfiltered sample water was collected for TKN and TP analysis and also frozen. Total and dissolved (<0.2 um) nutrient concentrations were determined following analysis of samples by the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University (Tiffin, OH, USA). Samples for chl a analysis were concentrated on GFC filters whereas raw water samples for microcystins were frozen in new polycarbonate bottles with subsequent analysis of both parameters by Ohio EPA. Cell identification and biovolume assessment was conducted on samples preserved with Lugol’s iodine.

BCO-DMO Processing: 
- modified parameter names (replaced spaces and "." with underscores);
- changed positive longitude values to negative.

NSF Award Abstract:
The Lake Erie Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health is a five-year, multi-institutional effort aimed at understanding the environmental factors and ongoing changes that influence the growth and toxicity of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) in Lake Erie. The Center will support three research projects. Specifically these projects address the following aims: first, how environmental cues promote or constrain the proliferation of cHAB species in mixed populations; second, how environmental cues influence toxin production by cHAB species; third, how other member of the microbial assemblage influence cHAB growth and toxicity. The Center will provide a Community Engagement Core to lead outreach activities that will inform the general public on the effects of cHABs by efforts that include: (1) a community engaged scholarship training for scientists associated with the Center, (2) community-engaged scholarship training for practitioners or community members associated with the Center, and (3) a stakeholder needs assessment for Great Lakes and environmental health literacy to inform general outreach information needs. A citizen science engagement with charter boat captains will further develop a near real-time database on cHAB severity in Lake Erie, and the Facilities Core will provide metadata that not only serve the three stated research projects, but also yield a database available to all Great Lakes scientists. The outcomes are to involve community stakeholders and researchers in the Great Lakes on issues regarding human health, climate change and awareness of threats to our fresh water resources.

The Center is jointly supported by NSF and by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.