A long-term water quality and meteorological data set (2014 - 2021) of a eutrophic prairie lake: Buffalo Pound Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.112290

Lakes can undergo rapid changes that are not captured during traditional, discrete sampling campaigns. Sensor-based data provided opportunities to understand these rapid changes in lakes. Here, we present 8 years of sensor-based monitoring data from the open water season in a shallow, polymictic reservoir in southern Saskatchewan, which serves as an important drinking water supply. A monitoring buoy was moored at a single location, providing sensor data, including water temperature, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductivity, turbidity, phycocyanin and chlorophyll at 2 depths (0.8 and 2.8 m below surface), and temperature throughout the water column, at 10-minute intervals timeframe. The buoy also had a weather station, recording air temperature, barometric pressure, PAR, rain, relative humidity, wind direction and wind speed. Data were reviewed and graded for data quality. This long-term dataset can be used to understand thermal variation and varied, often rapid, changes that polymictic lakes undergo, particularly through seasonal changes and development of cyanobacterial blooms.

This dataset can be used to understand thermal variation and the changes that polymictic lakes undergo, especially with regard to seasonal changes and the development of cyanobacterial blooms.

Baulch, H., Nugent, k., Bauer, J., Painter, K., Boyer, L., Vuleta, L., Whitfield, C., Venkiteswaran, J. (2025). A long-term water quality and meteorological data set (2014 – 2021) of a eutrophic prairie lake: Buffalo Pound Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada. Federated Research Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.20383/103.01100

Water Quality: water temperature, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductivity, turbidity, phycocyanin and chlorophyll Meteorological: air temperature, barometric pressure, PAR, rain, relative humidity, wind direction and wind speed

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/