Dataset: Concentrations of nutrients in total suspended particle (TSP) samples collected near Lake Tahoe from 2006 to 2009

TSP samples were collected between 2005 and 2010. Weekly integrated samples were collected on acid washed quartz fiber filters (10"x8", Whatman®) using a Graseby Andersen TSP High Volume Sampler. Between November 2005 and May 2007, the sampler was located near the lake at the UC Davis Field Station (Hatchery) away from any local source of disturbance. After May 2007, the sampler was relocated about 300 meters south to reduce local impacts due to remodeling at the Hatchery. The TSP sampler was placed 3.2 meters above the ground and protected by trees from direct road dust inputs. TSP samples were collected at an airflow rate of 85 cubic meters per hour. All filters were kept frozen until further analyses. To extract the soluble fraction of nutrients and trace metals in TSP samples, a 47 mm circular subsample of each filter was placed on an acid-washed filter tower, and 100 mL of MilliQ water was passed through the sample under gentle vacuum pressure exposing the sample for about 10 s to the water (Buck et al., 2006). A 100 μL of concentrated nitric acid was added to 5 mL of the MilliQ water for trace metal analysis and the rest of the sample was kept frozen for nutrient and ion chromatography analyses. The MilliQ water pH was 7 when it came out of the MilliQ system and similar to that of lake water Nitrate+nitrite (NO3+NO2), ammonium (NH4), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in the soluble fractions of TSP samples were analyzed using a nutrient autoanalyzer (QuikChem 8000 Flow Injection Analyzer). Detection limits of NO3+NO2, ammonium, and SRP are 0.29 μmol N per liter, 0.53 μmol N per liter, and 0.1 μmol P per liter, respectively.