Earth Data, Inc. of Centreville was recently selected by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, and ShoreRivers to implement a comprehensive data collection, reporting, and analysis project that focuses on a portion of the Transquaking River in Dorchester County, Maryland. The local and regional advocacy organizations seek to better understand pollution problems in the Transquaking River, which the Maryland Department of the Environmental lists as impaired by phosphorus and nitrogen pollution that harms aquatic life.
As part of the project Earth Data will install multiple flow and temperature monitoring stations that will continuously monitor, record and transmit data via a cellular network to a cloud-based server. The specialized equipment will include state-of-the-art ultrasonic area/velocity flow sensors that utilize continuous wave Doppler technology and advanced signal processing to provide high-accuracy readings. Additionally, Earth Data field geologists will regularly collect physical surface water samples from multiple locations for laboratory analysis of selected parameters. The work is expected to culminate in a comprehensive report that will summarize all flow, temperature, and water quality data, including publicly available climate and precipitation data.
Eric Flickinger, Director of Geospatial Services at Earth Data, and Jeff Chipman, Senior Geologist at Earth Data, collecting and transmitting water quality data in a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay.
“We are very excited to support this important water quality monitoring project,” states Earth Data president Mark Williams. “We’ll be furnishing and installing some state-of-the-art equipment that will enable both Earth Data and local water quality advocacy groups to monitor key parameters in near real-time using cloud-based technology.”
Earth Data project manager Jeff Chipman explains, “In addition to collecting physical samples for laboratory analysis, during all surface water sampling events Earth Data will use a sophisticated multi-parameter water quality meter to measure and record key data that will be incorporated into the data analysis and summary reports.”
“As part of the project Earth Data’s geospatial team will develop a custom cloud-based data tracking portal to facilitate timely data visualizations and accurate data storage and retrieval.”
Monitoring is expected to begin early summer 2023 and last at least 18 months.
For more than 48 years, Earth Data, Inc. has been providing field-oriented water resources and geospatial consulting services using high-tech tools to collect, analyze, manage, and distribute data in sophisticated ways. For further information, visit earthdatainc.com.
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