Southeastern buoy monitoring data now available
Thursday, March 28, 2024
by: Tonya Lowentritt 
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.
