Hypoxia Collaborative Team
The Hypoxia Collaborative Team advises the design and implementation of a Chesapeake Bay-wide high-frequency hypoxia profiling network to improve the monitoring and assessment of the Bay.
Upcoming Meetings
No upcoming meetings.
Scope and Purpose
Hypoxic (low dissolved oxygen) conditions, caused by excess nutrient loads from across the watershed, are a critical stressor for living resources in the Chesapeake Bay. These conditions are projected to worsen with increases in temperature and precipitation. Traditional water column monitoring in the Chesapeake Bay is designed for annual and seasonal insight, but it does not capture short-term dynamic events. High frequency monitoring throughout the water column would improve measurements of hypoxic volume. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Science Technical Assessment & Reporting (STAR) has tasked this collaborative team with the design and implementation of a bay-wide high-frequency hypoxia profiling network to improve the monitoring and assessment of the Bay. Management applications of the hypoxia monitoring network include WQ criteria assessment and condition of fish habitat.
The development of this network draws together a diverse team of stakeholders consisting of representatives from federal and state government, as well monitoring and modeling experts from the research community. The team will focus on developing a sampling design, defining agency roles and responsibilities, documenting operational costs, recommending QA/QC protocols, prioritizing near term data products and management applications, and designing an analytical framework and model integration. All findings from the collaborative team will be provided in a final report to STAR and broader Chesapeake Bay Program partnership.
Publications
Chesapeake Bay Water-Column Hypoxia Monitoring End-of-Year Data Report 2024
Published on March 1, 2025 in ReportIn 2024, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office successfully completed its second full season of deploying buoy-based hypoxia monitoring stations across Chesapeake Bay. These stations continuously collected crucial water-quality data throughout the water column from April to December. The effort expanded monitoring of hypoxic conditions in the Potomac and Choptank rivers. Tracking real-time, seasonal water column data on dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, and temperature is key to understanding system dynamics. This report provides details about the 2024 project, including a discussion of on-the-water operations, data management and key findings.
View detailsChesapeake Bay Water-Column Hypoxia Monitoring End-of-Year Data Report 2023
Published on March 1, 2024 in ReportIn 2023, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office completed its first full season of deploying buoy-based stations that continuously acquire data on water quality throughout the water column. Three monitoring buoys were strategically deployed in the Chesapeake Bay, continuously collecting data from April to December 2023. These “hypoxia buoys” mark a milestone in Chesapeake Bay monitoring by providing, for the first time, semi-permanent real-time water column data on dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, and temperature—crucial parameters for assessing seasonal hypoxic conditions. This report provides details about the 2023 project, including a discussion of on-the-water operations, data management and key findings.
View detailsChesapeake Bay Water-Column Hypoxia Monitoring Quality Assurance Project Plan
Published on February 28, 2023Members
Peter Tango (Chair), Monitoring Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: ptango@chesapeakebay.net
Phone: (410) 267-9875
Bruce Vogt (Vice Chair), Ecosystem Science Manager, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
200 Harry S. Truman Parkway Suite 460
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: Bruce.Vogt@noaa.gov
Phone: (240) 628-4812
Allison Welch (Staffer), Scientific, Technical Assessment and Reporting Team Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Christina Garvey (Staffer), Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Cindy Johnson, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Lee McDonnell, Acting Director and Branch Chief, Science, Analysis and Implementation Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21403
Email: mcdonnell.lee@epa.gov
Phone: (410) 267-5731
Mark Trice, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Tom Parham, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Tawes State Office Building
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: tparham@dnr.state.md.us
Phone: (410) 260-8633
Sean Corson, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Kevin Schabow, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
200 Harry S Truman Pkwy
Suite 460
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: Kevin.Schabow@noaa.gov
Phone: (443) 223-3230
Jeremy Testa, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Larry Sanford, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Marjy Friedrichs, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Rt. 1208 Greate Road
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062-1346
Email: marjy@VIMS.edu
Phone: (804) 684-7695
Durga Ghosh, Quality Assurance Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: dghosh@chesapeakebay.net
Phone: (410) 267-5750