Mount Hope Bay Marine Buoy Continuous Probe Data

Data from water quality monitoring buoys in Mount Hope Bay.

MassDEP collects seasonal water quality monitoring data in Mount Hope Bay (MHB).  These data contribute to the Narragansett Bay Fixed-Site Monitoring Network (NBFSMN) by providing water quality information for a sub-embayment of upper Narragansett Bay. This work is being done in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (URI-GSO), and EPA’s Southeast New England Program (SNEP) for Coastal Watershed Restoration.

Table of Contents

About the project

MassDEP operates a marine water quality monitoring buoy in Mount Hope Bay. The seasonal (approximately May-November) monitoring provides data in the Massachusetts portion of MHB. These data not only support MassDEP water quality assessments but also contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of water quality in Narragansett Bay. Additional MassDEP water quality management objectives served by these data include the evaluation of potential revisions to surface water quality standards for coastal and marine waters, and calculation of effluent discharge limits that could cause or contribute to impairments in the bay.

From 2016 through 2024, two buoys were deployed simultaneously in MHB. One buoy was deployed near the mouth of the Cole River within Assessment Unit (AU) MA61-07 (Class SA). Another buoy was deployed near the mouth of the Taunton River within AU MA61-06 (Class SB). For over eight years, the two buoys were deployed and operated by URI-GSO staff in accordance with the NBFSMN Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and the resulting data were quality-reviewed, validated, and finalized by MassDEP.

Starting in 2025, MassDEP initiated a cooperative program with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to continue MHB buoy monitoring using one buoy system rotated annually between the Cole and Taunton locations in the bay. USGS staff are deploying, maintaining, and retrieving the buoy under MassDEP’s direction and in accordance with a USGS QAPP. Data are quality-reviewed, validated, managed, and published by USGS. 

The monitoring buoy is outfitted with multiprobe sondes at the surface (approximate depth of 1.0 meter) and in the bottom waters (approximate depth of 0.5 meters above the bay floor), as well as a nitrate-nitrogen probe at the surface. The sondes measure data continuously every five minutes for the following parameters: depth, temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen saturation, specific conductance, salinity, chlorophyll, and phycoerythrin. The separate nitrate probes measure nitrate-nitrogen every five minutes. Continuous data are stored in the buoy instrumentation and transmitted automatically via telemetry to WDFN. USGS also provides real-time access to provisional data for the MHB buoy here: USGS MHB buoy.

A summary MassDEP report of the 2017/2018 MHB monitoring results is available. 

For the latest MassDEP assessment and listing decisions for the two MHB AUs, go to the Integrated List of Waters Report (IR).

Data Files for Mount Hope Bay Marine Buoys

Data Disclaimer - These data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by MassDEP, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.

Water quality continuous probe data:  “Taunton” Buoy

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2017

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2017

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2017

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2018

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2018

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2018

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2019

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2019

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2019

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2020

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2020

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2020

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2021

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2021

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2021

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2022

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2022

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2022

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2023

Water quality continuous multiprobe data, Taunton buoy, bottom, 2023

Water quality continuous nitrate probe data, Taunton buoy, surface, 2023

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