Dataset: Water characteristics measured in Narragansett Bay over two years, from March 2021 to March 2023

Water was collected at the reported time, and water collection was in nearly all cases taken on the incoming tide. Water was collected from a dock in a 1 liter (L) bottle, from which water temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a was measured. Water samples for macronutrients were also taken from the 1 L sample bottle and filtered through a 0.45-micrometer (µm) filter and collected in duplicate and stored in 60-milliliter (mL) HDPE bottles at -20 degrees Celsius before being sent for analysis. Macronutrients (silicate, orthophosphate, ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate + nitrite) were measured from duplicate samples by the Center for Coastal Studies using a nutrient autosampler system. Duplicate 1 mL water samples were preserved with 0.125% EM grade glutaldehyde and frozen and stored at -80 degrees Celsius for flow cyometry analysis at a later time. Water temperature and salinity were measured with certified instruments. In situ chlorophyll a was measured by reading fluorescence of a whole water sample on a calibrated instrument.

Know Issues or Problems:
Sampling was done weekly in nearly all cases, and in most cases sampling was done on Wednesdays. There are a few exceptions and an additional sample on 2021-07-30 was taken two days after the 'normal' weekly sampling.