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Loboviz

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The LOBO observatory L3 buoy has collected data showing changed nitrate levels ... LOBO L3 Buoy. Loboviz. Extensions: How can we determine where the nitrates ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Loboviz

1
Loboviz

Comparing the Effects of Precipitation on Nitrate
Levels in the Old Salinas River Channel

2
Loboviz

Introduction
The LOBO observatory L3 buoy has collected data
showing changed nitrate levels in the Old Salinas
River Channel. Normal oceanic nitrate levels are
10 µm (micromol). Nitrate levels in the Old
Salinas River Channel have reached 2000 µm.
Fluctuations in nitrate have been linked to tidal
changes and storm events.
Goal
Students will compare and analyze nitrate
concentrations and precipitation levels.
Question
How will an increase in precipitation effect
nitrate levels?

3
Map below from LOBOVIZ Network http//www.mbari.o
rg/lobo/network.htmLOBOmap
Map above from CIMIS http//wwwcimis.water.ca.gov
/cimis/infoStnMapSanJoaquin.jsp
4
Loboviz

Materials computer, access to
Loboviz realtime data set page
http//www.mbari.org/lobo/loboviz.htm
CIMIS weather data page
http//www.cimis.water.ca.gov/cimis/welcome.jsp

5
Loboviz

Procedure
Ask students to develop their own hypothesis
based on the introduction and question.
(Example for the Teacher An increase in rainfall
will increase runoff and fresh water influx into
the Old Salinas River Channel and decrease
nitrate level.)
DATA Procedure
1)Open the Loboviz data access page
http//www.mbari.org/lobo/loboviz.htm

6
Loboviz

Procedure continued
Select the following
2) Station L03SURF.TXT
3) X Variable Date
4) Y Variables Nitrate
5) Autoscale select On
6) Quality Select All Data
7) YStack Select Off
8) Time Select All Data
9) Start Date 02/01/2005
10) End Date 03/31/2005
11) Output Plot

7
Loboviz
Data from Loboviz, adapted in Excel
8
Loboviz
Data from CIMIS, adapted in Excel
9
(No Transcript)
10
Loboviz

Student Activity
Describe the patterns you see in the nitrate
graph and precipitation graph.
How did the patterns differ or agree with your
hypothesis?
The L3 buoy is positioned in the center of the
Old Salinas River Channel. If another buoy was
placed near the edge of the riverbank, would
there be a change in the data? If so, how?

11
Loboviz

Results
Increased rainfall correlated to decreased
nitrate levels from 02/01/2005 to 03/31/2005.
(See 3/15/2005 and 3/22/2005.)
Teacher Discussion hints
Higher rainfall levels could dilute nitrate
levels in the Old Salinas River Channel. However,
nitrate levels tend to be more concentrated at
the bend or edge of a river. Therefore, buoy
placement might effect nitrate data readings.
Castroville (the site of the precipitation data)
has significant artichoke farming. MBARI hopes to
share this data with local farmers to increase
their efficacy of fertilizers (without wasting
them) and lower nitrate levels.

12
LOBO L3 Buoy
13
Loboviz

Extensions
How can we determine where the nitrates are
coming from?
Would testing the farmers wells be helpful?
If nitrate runoff was minimized what would be the
economic impact on farmers and fertilizer
distributors?
Aside from farming, what are some other sources
of nitrates? (Teacher hint look up maps of area
and look for other sources).
Examine LOBOVIZ again, examine data for dissolved
oxygen and nitrate levels to explore the effects
of eutrophication. (Teacher hint DO levels will
be lower with high eutrophication.)

14
Web resources

Irrigation Scheduling
http//wwwcimis.water.ca.gov/cimis/infoIrrSchedule
.jsp
Whats in Your Watershed (Bridge Data Tip)
http//www.vims.edu/bridge/index_archive0203.html

15
Notes on Loboviz

Menu choices should correspond automatically to
data available at the station. Ex. types of
chemical parameters, date
Need metadata explanation. Ex.Quality Select
Whats the different in the data types?
Need to be able to manipulate output in Text file
format. Ex. Each day has at least 6 data point.
It would be nice to be able to average these to
get 1 data value.
In general, the interface needs to be modified to
be more teacher and student friendly.
GROUP CONTRIBUTORSStephen Coleman, Susanna
Musick, Julie Ribar, Eric Simms