The National Park Service has been monitoring the water quality of lakes and streams across Acadia since 1980. Today, a state of the art buoy in Jordan Pond enhances this monitoring effort by collecting over 1,400 measurements per day.
Project Summary
The NexSens CB-400S data buoy that is deployed in Jordan Pond during the ice-off season provides minute-by-minute information on multiple water quality features. Pairing the buoy with a weather station located on Jordan Pond House (located at the south end of the lake) provides a powerful tool for scientists to track changes within the lake in near real-time and identify potential causes of shifts in lake structure and function. In particular, we are interested in the drivers of the change in the Lake's transparency over time. The insight provided by the data buoy will help park staff as they make management decisions to preserve water resources in Acadia for years to come. This project, initially enabled by a generous gift from Canon U.S.A., is a collaborative effort between Acadia National Park, the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, and Friends of Acadia.
What the Buoy Measures
Video on the background of the buoy project featuring Dr. Courtney Wigdahl, who helped to spearhead the project.
Water temperature to 16 m depth
Dissolved Oxygen
Light attenuation
Acidity (pH)
Conductivity
Organic Matter (fDOM)
Chlorophyll (algae)
Salinity
Click here to see the live data→
Learn more about these environmental parameters here→
What the Weather Station Measures
Weather station mounted on Jordan Pond House.