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Live water quality data from the Lake
On April 4, 2000 , Onondaga County deployed the first fully automated Lake Monitoring Buoy to provide continuous monitoring of the water quality of
Onondaga Lake.
Equipped with a telemetry system, the buoy continuously collects and transmits data from four different water depths at the buoy site which is located
approximately 1.5-miles north west of the Carousel Mall in the area scientists refer to as the South Deep basin.
The buoy monitors the lake waters at depths of 2, 6, 12, and 15-meters. A variety of parameters are monitored. These parameters are important indicators on the
status of the lake’s water quality and the lake’s ability to support fish and other biota. Temperature, dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH, oxidation-reduction
potential, and salinity are measured every 15-minutes and transmitted to a computer at the County’s Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant
where it is immediately converted, via computer software, and posted to the web site.
This state-of-the-art buoy system allows
the County to collect water quality data on a continuous basis without deployment of staff and equipment with an
estimated cost savings of $5000 per year. Most importantly, the buoy will allow data collection to occur when
weather conditions may be prohibitive to conducting “on-lake” data collection.
This buoy adds to the County’s already extensive monitoring program which includes year-round field sampling of
the water quality of the lake and its tributaries during storm and dry conditions, as well as collection of fish, aquatic
plants, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates.
The display may take a minute or longer to appear.
Please be patient.
| The South Deep monitoring buoy has been removed for the winter in order to prevent damage from ice formation on the lake. Please check back in the Spring. |
See the limitations on the use of this data (below).
| Note:
During extended periods of hypoxia in the lower water
layer of Onondaga Lake (when dissolved oxygen is < 2.0
mg/L), the dissolved oxygen probes at 12 meters and 15
meters are removed from the water quality instruments
to prevent damage. |
Disclaimer
Data obtained from Onondaga County's telemonitoring buoy are
transmitted on 15 minute intervals to a receiving
station at the Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant by radio frequency
transmissions. The data are received and automatically
processed through a software
program before it is transmitted to the web site for
viewing by the public.
Anomalous or incorrect data may still be transmitted,
caused by mechanical problems or invalid readings from
occurrences such as instrument fouling by biological
materials, instrument malfunction due to flotsam
and/or jetsam, unusually high battery drain, failure
of solar energy panels and/or radio frequency noise
transmitted with the data signal.
The data from the buoy (above) have not been reviewed
or validated by WEP staff and, therefore, is
considered to be provisional. WEP is not responsible,
nor does it assume any liability, for any damages
caused by inaccuracies in this data or documentation
or as a result of the failure of the software to
function in a particular manner.
WEP makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the
accuracy, completeness, or utility of this
information, nor does the fact of distribution
constitute a warranty. Final data will be published
yearly in the Onondaga Lake Monitoring Program's Annual
Report when issued by WEP. |
