Page 46: of Marine Technology Magazine (November 2014)

Shallow Water Monitoring

Sensors Track GOM

Nitrate Pulse

A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Excessive springtime nitrate runoff hypoxic zone, an area with low oxygen report describes how advanced optical from agricultural land and other sources known commonly as the “dead zone.” sensor technology is being used in the in the Mississippi drainage ? ows into NOAA-supported researchers reported

Mississippi River basin to accurately the Mississippi River and downstream that the summer 2014 dead zone cov- track the nitrate pulse to the Gulf of to the Gulf of Mexico. This excess ni- ered about 5,052 square miles, an area

Mexico. trate contributes to the Gulf of Mexico the size of Connecticut.

The following pages illustrate the work of the USGS in

USGS in (Fresh Water) Action studying, measuring and analyzing the nation’s shal- low, fresh waterways.

What: Hydrologist Measuring Stream? ow

When: 4/11/2014

Where: Smelterville, ID, USA

Details: USGS hydrologist Greg Clark mea- sures stream? ow on Government Gulch

Creek, a tributarty to the Coeur d’Alene River in northern Idaho. Stream? ow data collected are included in the Coeur d’Alene Basin En- vironmental Monitoring Program the USGS conducts in cooperation with the Environ- mental Protection Agency.

Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

Department of the Interior/USGS

U.S. Geological Survey/photo: Deena Green

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