Coastal Salinity Index: Expansion Across the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Seaboard

NOAA Science Seminar Series

Speakers: Matthew Petkewich, USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center; Andrew Tweel, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; Simeon Yurek, USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center; Christopher Swarzenski, USGS Lower Mississippi – Gulf Water Science Center

Sponsor: National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), USGS

Seminar Contact: Meredith Muth (meredith.muth@noaa.gov)

Remote Access: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6045283571849369871

Abstract: The Coastal Salinity Index (CSI) is a long-term monitoring tool developed in 2017 through a USGS and NIDIS partnership to help users characterize and assess fluctuating salinity conditions in coastal areas due to events such as drought and floods. The index can be used for different estuary types (for example: brackish, oligohaline, or mesohaline), for regional comparison between estuaries, and as an index of wet conditions (high freshwater inflow) in addition to drought (saline) conditions. 

In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a website to disseminate real-time CSI results for 17 USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center salinity gages. Funding provided from the USGS Community for Data Integration in 2020 allowed the CSI team to expand this network to 103 gages located from Maine to Texas and Puerto Rico, by including additional real-time salinity gages from the USGS, Everglades National Park, and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. This webinar will describe the motivation for and development of the CSI, the expanded CSI website, and applications of the CSI to existing field investigations. 
Recordings:
Yes, you can find them here (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmADP4Cm4SNtYZMmrY48PtQ)

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(Matthew Petkewich, USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center; Andrew Tweel, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; Simeon Yurek, USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center; Christopher Swarzenski, USGS Lower Mississippi – Gulf Water Science Center)