Total microcystins, chlorophyll, and other water quality data collected in Lake Erie from 2013-06-18 to 2024-10-22 (NCEI Accession 0276941)

Water sample data collected and curated by Ohio State University's Stone Laboratory and others between 2013 and 2024 in Lake Erie. The samples were collected in part of several projects funded by various state (Ohio EPA and Ohio Sea Grant) and federal agencies (US EPA, NSF, NIH, NOAA). The program column describes who or why the samples were collected. The captains program is a partnership between Stone Lab and the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association in which the captains collect water samples and Stone Lab analyzes them (https://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/products/4c0k6/charter-boat-captains-help-monitor-lake-erie-water-quality). The SL Buoy program is a high temporal resolution dataset of grab samples paired with a high temporal resolution sonde data attached to a buoy (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2612-z). The HABs Grab were high spatial resolution samples collected on two days during peak blooms of 2018 and 2019 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2021.102080). The flow-through program was an attempt to collect water quality data throughout the winter by pumping lake water into the research building at Stone Lab. Programs Stone Lab and UToledo were samples collected by Stone Lab and UT Lake Erie Center from research vessels at routinely monitored locations. Samples were analyzed for chlorophyll a (an indicator of algae biomass), microcystins (a group of toxins produced by cyanobacteria), total phosphorus and nitrogen (indicators of maximum biomass potential), dissolved nitrate, phosphate, and silicate (nutrients available for algae), and total suspended solids (mass of all particulates in the water).