HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University recently deployed four buoys for independent, scientific monitoring of the Lake Maurepas ecosystem to monitor Air Products’ work on its Louisiana Clean Energy Complex. The data from those buoys is now posted on the university’s website and can be accessed at southeastern.edu/lakemaurepas.
The page contains the real time water quality readings from four continuous monitoring buoys in Lake Maurepas: the Amite, Blind, Maurepas, and Tickfaw buoys. By providing real-time data, the aim is to enhance the community’s understanding of Lake Maurepas’ current status and to elevate their awareness regarding water quality and atmospheric conditions in the area. Individuals simply need to click on the buoys in the interactive map to learn more details about each one.
“We are excited to share with the public the buoy data that is collected in real time,” said Southeastern President William S. Wainwright. “All concerned parties can be assured that our scientists are consistently monitoring and analyzing the data from the buoys.”
Scientists from Southeastern are monitoring the marine life populations (fishes, crabs, shrimp), as well as the plant life in the surrounding wetlands, and also watching and studying any variations in water quality with data that is collected seven days a week.
The water quality parameters monitored by the buoys include CO2, temperature, turbidity, specific conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen concentration, percent dissolved oxygen and pH. The Blind buoy is also fitted with a weather station that monitors atmospheric conditions in addition to water quality. This includes air temperature, rain total, rain intensity, dew point, barometric pressure, relative humidity, wind speed, wind gust speed, and wind direction. All water quality and meteorological parameters are measured every 30 minutes, seven days a week.
