Department of Biology, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ, USA.
Geographic Information Systems Program, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ, USA.
Environ Monit Assess. 2021 Feb 10;193(3):118. doi: 10.1007/s10661-021-08894-6.
Hilo Bay estuary, located on the northeastern side of Hawai'i Island, experiences variability in water quality parameters due to its numerous water inputs. This estuary experiences influxes of water from three sources: groundwater to the east, marine water from the north, and surface water from the Wailuku River to the west. High rainfall and river flow impacts Hilo Bay's water quality including salinity, turbidity, and chlorophyll a concentration. Here, maps of Hilo Bay water quality were examined to assess spatial patterns of these important parameters. Exploring the patterns of these water quality parameters by creating inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation surfaces of survey points and clusters based on hot spot analyses during low- and high-flow conditions showed statistically significant differences in spatial water quality in Hilo Bay. Water quality maps after a storm show (1) an overall decrease in salinity, (2) a river plume from the Wailuku River associated with a turbidity hot spot, and (3) a chlorophyll a hot spot offset from the river plume in the center of the bay. Using spatial analysis to analyze water quality throughout the entirety of Hilo Bay before and after storm events can lead to a better understanding of how this ecosystem is affected during these types of events, and furthermore, adopting this method of sampling and analysis allows for a greater representation of water quality all over the bay and can improve the monitoring of water quality in this important ecosystem.
希洛湾位于夏威夷岛的东北侧，由于其众多的水源输入，其水质参数存在变化。该河口有三种水源流入：东部的地下水、北部的海水和西部的怀卢库河地表水。高降雨量和河流流量会影响希洛湾的水质，包括盐度、浊度和叶绿素 a 浓度。在这里，我们检查了希洛湾水质图，以评估这些重要参数的空间模式。通过在低流量和高流量条件下创建基于热点分析的调查点和聚类的倒数距离加权 (IDW) 插值面来探索这些水质参数的模式，表明希洛湾的空间水质存在统计学上的显著差异。风暴后的水质图显示：(1) 盐度整体下降，(2) 怀卢库河形成的河口羽状流与浊度热点相关，(3) 河口羽状流中心的叶绿素 a 热点偏移。在风暴前后，通过空间分析对希洛湾整个区域的水质进行分析，可以更好地了解在这些类型的事件中该生态系统是如何受到影响的，此外，采用这种采样和分析方法可以更全面地代表整个海湾的水质，并可以改善对这个重要生态系统的水质监测。
