LimnoTech worked with Heidelberg University’s National Center for Water Quality Research to design a map centric data portal for the Heidelberg Tributary Loading Program.
Screenshot of the HTLP Monitoring Data Portal. Satellite image in the background with a map of basins monitored. Station symbols are on the map in red circles.
The download feature enables users to download monitoring data to perform their own analysis.
Screenshot of the HTLP Data Download Menu.
Clicking on a monitoring location displays station information and allows users to plot and download monitoring data.
Screenshot of the Great Miami station location with buttons to download data, plot data or close out of the pop up.
The plotting tool allows users to visualize and explore relationships between monitoring parameters.
Screenshot of a flow and TSS time series for the Great Miami.

Location:
Tiffin, Ohio

Client:
National Center for Water Quality Research (NCWQR)

Service Areas:

Our Expert:

The Heidelberg Tributary Loading Program (HTLP) is one of the longest-running water quality monitoring programs in the United States, with sampling dating back to 1974. Working with the National Center for Water Quality Research (NCWQR), LimnoTech modernized the program’s data portal so that partners, researchers, and stakeholders can visualize and download this indispensable dataset.

The Challenge

The NCWQR has been running the Heidelberg Tributary Loading Program since 1974. The program measures pollutant concentrations at approximately 20 monitoring locations and combines the measured concentrations with U.S. Geological Survey streamflow data to estimate nutrient (phosphorus and nitrogen) and sediment loading. This critical dataset is used to study harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia that occur in Western Lake Erie.

The previous data management solution was a series of spreadsheets available for download. This solution made frequent updates to the data more difficult and did not provide robust tools for data dissemination and download tracking.

The Solution

LimnoTech worked with NCWQR to design and implement a centralized database and custom monitoring data portal called the HTLP Monitoring Data Portal to meet their needs. The data portal is a map-centric tool that provides easier access to users and provides built-in visualization of both monitoring station locations and monitoring data time series. The centralized database provides simpler data updates with automated QA/QC to validate uploaded data. The system also tracks downloads, providing NCWQR with valuable quantitative information regarding the frequency and demographics of users utilizing the dataset.

Check out HTLP Monitoring Data Portal here: https://ncwqr-data.org/

Tech Stack

C#, .NET, jQuery, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GeoServer

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