"This file contains algal toxin data collected at estuarine and Great Lakes sites that were sampled for the National Coastal Condition Assessment in 2020, 2021 and 2022."
Data have been thoroughly reviewed, however they are not considered final until the NCCA Report is published. Data may be updated at any time. The changelog for the associated file may be found below the column name definitions.
End-users are responsible for reviewing the suitability of these data for their purposes.
"""Please bring any questions about the data to the attention of Hugh Sullivan, NCCA Lead at sullivan.hugh@epa.gov. "" "
This file does not include information used to determine the statistical weight for each site. Future updates of this file coinciding with NCCA Report publication will include site weights.
"""For information about NCCA protocols, please check the NCCA 2020 Field Operations Manual, Site Evaluation Guidelines; Lab Operations Manual, and Quality Assurance Project Plan on the NCCA Website: https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/manuals-used-national-aquatic-resource-surveys#National%20Coastal%20Condition%20Assessment"" "
COLUMN_NAME Legal Values Description
PUBLICATION_DATE Date the dataset was published by NARS IM
UID Unique identifier for a single sampling event at a site/visit. Use the UID to associate data in the NCCA site info files with information included in this file.
UNIQUE_ID Unique site ID based on location. Does not depend on year sampled or any other factor. Follows a unique site through multiple survey designs. Form is NCA_ss_nnnnn where ss is state/territory and nnnnn is number that starts at 10001. No missing values allowed. Text
SITE_ID "NCCA Site ID for the study and year sampled. Preferred form is NCAnn_MM-xxxxx where nn is survey cycle year (05, 10, 15, 20, etc), MM is two letter state code, and xxxxx is between 10001 and 99999. No missing values allowed. No missing values allowed."
VISIT_NO |1|2 "Sequential visit in each year, typically 1 or 2."
DATE_COL mm/dd/yyyy Date Collected mm/dd/yyyy
PSTL_CODE "State two letter postal code for site sampled. 50 state postal codes plus (if applicable) AS, MP, GU, PR, VI for American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. No missing values allowed."
WTBDY_TYPE Marine or Great Lakes
NCCA_REG Northeast|Southeast|Gulf|West|Great Lakes|Pacific "National Coastal Condition Assessment Region. Northeast includes states ME, NH, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, MD, DE, and VA. Southeast includes NC, SC, GA, and east coast of FL. No missing values allowed."
SAMPLE_TYPE Code identifying NCCA sample type
LAB Lab that conducted analysis
MATRIX """Material used for analysis (WATER, SEDIMENT, or TISSUE)"""
SAM_CODE Sample code (Regular/Lab duplicate/Lab split)
ANALYTE Analyte
BATCH_ID Laboratory batch number
SAMPLE_ID NCCA Sample ID
RESULT Analytical result
UNITS Result Unit
RL Lab reporting limit
MDL Method detection limit
ABSORBANCE Absorbance value
AVG_ABSORB "Calculated average of absorbance values for a sample. Only provided for TYPE=U, KC, NC, or SC. Average value of the original sample and its duplicate (or replicates for KC and NC)."
AVG_CONC Calculated average of concentration values for a sample. Substitute 0.15 ug/L (0.263 ug/L) for any freshwater (brackish/seawater) result recorded as <0.15 ug/L (<0.263 ug/L)
CONDITION_CODE "Condition of sample upon arrival at lab; Legal values are: OK = Sample is in good condition, C = Sample container is cracked, L = Sample container is leaking, ML = Sample Label is missing, NF = Sample is not frozen (for samples shipped frozen), W = Sample is warm (for microcystin warm is > 8 deg C); Q = other quality concern not otherwise noted. see comment."
CV_ABSORB "Calculated %CV of duplicate values of absorbance for a sample. Only calculated for TYPE=U (unknown), KC (kit control), NC (negative control). Enter %CV. Value is between 0 and 100%."
DATE_ANALYZED Date sample analyzed by lab
DATE_RECEIVED Date sample received by lab.
FRESH_MARINE Is the sample collected from Great Lakes (F) site or Estuarine/Marine site (M)
KIT_ID Identification number of ELISA kit used to analyze sample
LOCATION "Location of well in the ELISA kit plate (e.g., B5 would be the fifth well from the left in the second row B)"
R2 R2 from curve fit to the average absorbance values for the standards. Value is between 0 and 1.
SALINITY_3.5 "is the salinity of the site where the sample was collected greater than 3.5 parts practical saliity units (psu)? Y = Yes, N = No. If Salinity is greater than 3.5 psu, Microcystin samples require additional cleanup step before analysis. See the NCCA Laboratory Operations Manual for details"
SALINITY_8 "is the salinity of the site where the sample was collected greater than 8 parctical salinity units (psu)? Y = Yes, N = No. If Salinity is greater than 8 psu, Cylindrospermopsin samples required dilution. See the NCCA Laboratory Operations Manual for details."
SALINITY Salinity of water at site where sample was collected. Units are practical salinity units (psu).
AVG_CONC_SALINE "The average concetration after adjusting for salinity, if applicable. MICX samples with salinity greater than 3.5 psu went through a cleanup step and the AVG_CONC was multiplied by 1.75 to give AVG_CONC_SALINE. CYLN samples with salinity of greater than 8 psu were diluted to reduce salinity to 8 psu. the AVG_CONC was multiplide by the DILUTION_FACTOR to give AVG_CONC_SALINE."
DILUTION_FACTOR Dilution factor if sample needed to be diluted for analysi
LAB_COMMENT Comments submitted by the laboratory
CONDITION_COMMENT Laboratory comment on condition of sample
NARS_FLAG "Flag assigned by NARS: ND = Non-detect, L = Estimated, Q = Quality-related issue, S = Shipping time exceedence, H = Holding time exceedence, NR = No lab result for analyte"" "
NARS_COMMENT "Comment explaining NARS_FLAG or other qualifying information, if applicable."" "
Changelog
Publication Date
Of Most recent
File Posted to
NARS Data Page
Change
5/9/2024 initial publication
10/25/2024 update values for multiple variables. Moved LAT_DD and LON_DD coordinates to Siteinfo