Water Chemistry and Chlorophyll a Monitoring in North Central Ontario Lakes

This program summarizes long term water chemistry and chlorophyll a monitoring in north central Ontario lakes developed under Canada’s Long Range Transport of Air Pollutants (LRTAP) initiative to understand and track lake acidification caused by atmospheric deposition. Centered on the intensively studied Turkey Lakes Watershed since 1979 and complemented by broader headwater and mesoscale lake networks around Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as well as a few locations near Parry Sound, Ontario, the monitoring integrates catchment scale approaches to link atmospheric inputs, watershed processes, and aquatic responses. Water chemistry measurements quantify acid–base status, major ions, nutrients, and trace metals to diagnose sensitivity to acidification, episodic stress during events such as spring snowmelt, and long term chemical recovery following emission controls. Chlorophyll a is used alongside chemistry to indicate phytoplankton biomass, lake productivity, and overall water quality, providing biological context for fish habitat and ecosystem condition. Together, these coordinated datasets support both detailed process studies and regional assessments of lake sensitivity, productivity, and ecological recovery across a heterogeneous landscape.

Date ( RI_367 ): 2026-03-23

Date ( RI_366 ): 2026-03-23

RI_414

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Rick Elsner ( )

Canada

Status: historicalArchive; archiveHistorique RI_594

Maintenance and update frequency: notPlanned; nonPlanifié RI_542

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus Thésaurus des sujets de base du gouvernement du Canada ( RI_528 )

Environmental sciences
Inland waters
Aquatic ecosystems
Chemistry

Use limitation: Open Government Licence - Canada (http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada)

Access constraints: licenseUnrestricted; licenceSansRestriction RI_610

Use constraints: licenseUnrestricted; licenceSansRestriction RI_610

Classification: unclassified; nonClassifié RI_484

Spatial representation type: textTable; texteTable RI_637

Metadata language: eng; CAN

Topic category

Environment
Inland waters

Begin date: 1979-01-01

End date: 2010-12-31

Reference system identifier: https://epsg.io / EPSG:3857 /

Distribution format

DOCX ( DOCX )
CSV ( csv )
XLSX ( xlsx )

RI_414

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - ( )

Canada

OnLine resource: 1979-2010 Water Chemistry Data ( HTTPS )
Dataset;CSV;eng

OnLine resource: 2000-2010 Chlorophyll a Data ( HTTPS )
Dataset;CSV;eng

OnLine resource: Chlorophyll a Data Dictionary ( HTTPS )
Supporting Document;DOCX;eng

OnLine resource: Water Chemistry Data Dictionary ( HTTPS )
Supporting Document;XLSX;eng

OnLine resource: Water Chemistry and Chlorophyll a Monitoring in North-Central Ontario Lakes ( HTTPS )
Supporting Document;DOCX;eng

OnLine resource: 1979-2010 Water Chemistry Data ( HTTPS )
Dataset;XLSX;fra

OnLine resource: 2000-2010 Chlorophyll a Data ( HTTPS )
Dataset;XLSX;fra

OnLine resource: Chlorophyll a Data Dictionary ( HTTPS )
Supporting Document;DOCX;fra

OnLine resource: Water Chemistry and Chlorophyll a Monitoring in North-Central Ontario Lakes ( HTTPS )
Supporting Document;DOCX;fra

OnLine resource: Water Chemistry Data Dictionary ( HTTPS )
Supporting Document;XLSX;fra

OnLine resource: Water Chemistry and Chlorophyll a Monitoring in North Central Ontario Lakes ( ESRI REST: Map Service )
Web Service;ESRI REST;eng

OnLine resource: Water Chemistry and Chlorophyll a Monitoring in North Central Ontario Lakes ( ESRI REST: Map Service )
Web Service;ESRI REST;fra

File identifier: 2b1e5900-18aa-4800-a418-365c9bb80527 XML

Metadata language: eng; CAN

Character set: utf8; utf8 RI_458

Hierarchy level: dataset; jeuDonnées RI_622

Date stamp: 2026-05-28T14:35:38.667049Z

Metadata standard name: North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003 - Geographic information - Metadata

Metadata standard version: CAN/CGSB-171.100-2009

RI_415

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Ecosystem Sciences Division - Karen Smokorowski ( )

Canada

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Water Chemistry and Chlorophyll a Monitoring in North-Central Ontario Lakes

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