Monitoring Program
wells national estuarine research reserveThe System-wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) uses the 28 reserves as reference sites for measuring short-term variability and long-term change in estuarine ecosystems and coastal watersheds. Wells Reserve staff scientists join in this national effort by continually monitoring weather, water quality, and nutrients in estuarine waters.
Weather
The Wells Reserve weather station measures temperature, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, precipitation, and atmospheric conditions.
Water Quality
The Wells Reserve uses seven automated dataloggers to monitor physical and chemical variables at 15-minute intervals. Measures of water quality include temperature, water depth, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.
In addition to automated data collection through SWMP, water sampling and testing is done periodically by local schools and Wells Reserve volunteers. Data obtained by the Watershed Evaluation Team allow comparison with SWMP data and are used for teaching in local schools.
Nutrient
To monitor nutrients, the Wells Reserve periodically takes samples at one automated datalogger. Samples are analyzed for ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, ortho-phosphate, and chlorophyll a.
Biological
This component of the monitoring program focuses on characterizing biotic diversity by assessing community composition, species abundance, and species distributions. Among the monitored organisms are emergent and submerged vegetation (e.g., marsh grasses, seagrasses, algae), invasive species, benthic communities, and nekton/plankton communities.
The Wells Reserve does additional biological monitoring outside the realm of SWMP. The Reserve and its partners study birds, insects, and other upland flora and fauna.
SWMP Data Management
SWMP weather, water, and nutrient data undergo quality-assurance and quality-control reviews at Wells Reserve, then are submitted to the NOAA Centralized Data Management Office, which makes them available online for researchers, coastal managers, and educators.
For More Information
Visit the national website for the System-wide Monitoring Program.
Current Conditions
Near real-time data from Wells Reserve stations is available at the CDMO website.
Tide predictions for Wells are available at the National Ocean Service website.
