In 2023, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office team deployed and maintained buoys to monitor dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity from the surface of the water to the bottom of the Bay at three locations.
Each of the three buoys—one at the mouth of the Choptank River, one at the mouth of the Potomac River, and one in the middle of the Bay near Hoopers Island—was deployed for much of 2023. Data from these locations is available for you to download (click on the link and it will automatically download a large Excel file):
Measuring and tracking hypoxia—very low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water—helps scientists more fully understand how levels vary from the surface to the bottom, and how they change throughout the year. Data from the new buoys is also delivered more frequently then data from other monitoring efforts. This information can help identify where, and how big, the “dead zone” of hypoxic water in the Chesapeake is each year. This new data from these buoys can help the Chesapeake Bay Program model how dissolved oxygen levels change over time and space. Fisheries scientists can use the data to learn more about the effects of hypoxia and changes in water conditions on different species, because the water column provides important fish habitat.
In 2023, three stations were deployed: Choptank, mid-Bay, and Potomac.
This project is supported by the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office and is a focus of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Hypoxia Collaborative.