USGS Hydrologist Randy Host performs compass calibrations for discharge measurements at the Unuk River. The Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska. This site has a Super Gage which is a conventional streamflow gage equipped with continuous water-quality monitors.
Super gages provide real-time data specifically designed to improve understanding of watershed processes and to address specific water-resource issues such as climate and land-use effects or hazardous substance spills.
Return to Water >> USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska
Super gages provide real-time data specifically designed to improve understanding of watershed processes and to address specific water-resource issues such as climate and land-use effects or hazardous substance spills. The ability to model estimates of water quality constituents based on a record of continuous data helps improve estimates of loads to downstream areas that are critical for salmon spawning and rearing habitats.
What types of equipment are used in a super gage?
Water-quality monitors for measuring water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and turbidity.
How are data from the super gages are verified?
Representative stream-width and depth-integrated sampling verifies the super gage data and is used to develop surrogate models.
What's a surrogate model?
Measured in-stream values of a parameter and measured concentrations of a constituent are used to develop a regression model to estimate concentrations during non-sampled periods. Computed or estimated concentrations of a constituent of greater interest can be calculated from the surrogate model.
- Temperature, water, degrees Celsius [Graph]
- Specific conductance, water, unfiltered, microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius [Graph]
- Dissolved oxygen, water, unfiltered, milligrams per liter [Graph]
- pH, water, unfiltered, field, standard units [Graph]
- Turbidity, water, unfiltered, formazin nephelometric units (FNU) [Graph]
- Temperature, air, degrees Celsius [Graph]
Water Quality Measurements
Water quality samples are collected on each river every 6-8 weeks depending on weather and aircraft availability. Samples are collected following USGS sampling methods for surface water. The measured constituents are included in the following table and results are posted to the USGS National Water Information System.
Constituent Group | Analytes |
---|---|
Physical | Specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, water temperature, pH |
Solids | Total dissolved solids, total suspended solids |
Nutrients | Dissolved ammonia, dissolved nitrite+nitrate, total ammonia+organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved orthophosphorus |
Major Ions | Calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, suflate |
Alkalinity | Alkalinity as CaCO3 |
Trace Metals | Total recoverable and dissolved aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, strontium, thallium, uranium, vanadium, and zinc |
Organic Compounds | Total organic carbon, inorganic carbon, total particulate carbon, total particulate nitrogen |
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska
Suspended-Sediment and Solids Sampling
Unuk River
Stikine River
Taku River
Alsek River
Salmon River
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
USGS Hydrologist Randy Host performs compass calibrations for discharge measurements at the Unuk River. The Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska. This site has a Super Gage which is a conventional streamflow gage equipped with continuous water-quality monitors.
Unuk River sampling site.
Unuk River sampling site.
USGS hydrologist monitoring water quality and collecting samples at USGS Station15015595 on the Unuk River, Alaska. In 2019, the USGS began studying the baseline water-quality of selected transboundary rivers in Alaska.
USGS hydrologist monitoring water quality and collecting samples at USGS Station15015595 on the Unuk River, Alaska. In 2019, the USGS began studying the baseline water-quality of selected transboundary rivers in Alaska.
Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska.
Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska.
Super gages provide real-time data specifically designed to improve understanding of watershed processes and to address specific water-resource issues such as climate and land-use effects or hazardous substance spills.
Return to Water >> USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska
Super gages provide real-time data specifically designed to improve understanding of watershed processes and to address specific water-resource issues such as climate and land-use effects or hazardous substance spills. The ability to model estimates of water quality constituents based on a record of continuous data helps improve estimates of loads to downstream areas that are critical for salmon spawning and rearing habitats.
What types of equipment are used in a super gage?
Water-quality monitors for measuring water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and turbidity.
How are data from the super gages are verified?
Representative stream-width and depth-integrated sampling verifies the super gage data and is used to develop surrogate models.
What's a surrogate model?
Measured in-stream values of a parameter and measured concentrations of a constituent are used to develop a regression model to estimate concentrations during non-sampled periods. Computed or estimated concentrations of a constituent of greater interest can be calculated from the surrogate model.
- Temperature, water, degrees Celsius [Graph]
- Specific conductance, water, unfiltered, microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius [Graph]
- Dissolved oxygen, water, unfiltered, milligrams per liter [Graph]
- pH, water, unfiltered, field, standard units [Graph]
- Turbidity, water, unfiltered, formazin nephelometric units (FNU) [Graph]
- Temperature, air, degrees Celsius [Graph]
Water Quality Measurements
Water quality samples are collected on each river every 6-8 weeks depending on weather and aircraft availability. Samples are collected following USGS sampling methods for surface water. The measured constituents are included in the following table and results are posted to the USGS National Water Information System.
Constituent Group | Analytes |
---|---|
Physical | Specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, water temperature, pH |
Solids | Total dissolved solids, total suspended solids |
Nutrients | Dissolved ammonia, dissolved nitrite+nitrate, total ammonia+organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved orthophosphorus |
Major Ions | Calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, suflate |
Alkalinity | Alkalinity as CaCO3 |
Trace Metals | Total recoverable and dissolved aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, strontium, thallium, uranium, vanadium, and zinc |
Organic Compounds | Total organic carbon, inorganic carbon, total particulate carbon, total particulate nitrogen |
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska
Suspended-Sediment and Solids Sampling
Unuk River
Stikine River
Taku River
Alsek River
Salmon River
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
USGS Hydrologist Randy Host performs compass calibrations for discharge measurements at the Unuk River. The Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska. This site has a Super Gage which is a conventional streamflow gage equipped with continuous water-quality monitors.
USGS Hydrologist Randy Host performs compass calibrations for discharge measurements at the Unuk River. The Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska. This site has a Super Gage which is a conventional streamflow gage equipped with continuous water-quality monitors.
Unuk River sampling site.
Unuk River sampling site.
USGS hydrologist monitoring water quality and collecting samples at USGS Station15015595 on the Unuk River, Alaska. In 2019, the USGS began studying the baseline water-quality of selected transboundary rivers in Alaska.
USGS hydrologist monitoring water quality and collecting samples at USGS Station15015595 on the Unuk River, Alaska. In 2019, the USGS began studying the baseline water-quality of selected transboundary rivers in Alaska.
Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska.
Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of Southeast Alaska.