"This file contains water chemistry and chlorophyll a 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.          

"See the National Coastal Condition Assessment 2020 Field Operations Manual, Laboratory Operations Manual and Quality Assurance Project Plan for details about field and laboratory protocols and data quality objectives. https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/manuals-used-national-aquatic-resource-surveys#National%20Coastal%20Condition%20Assessment"		
"""Please bring any questions about the data to the attention of Hugh Sullivan, NCCA Lead at sullivan.hugh@epa.gov. ""                                             "		
                                     		
                                                		
                                                		
"""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""                                         "		
		
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 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| 	"""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."""
LAB		Name/initials identifying the lab that analyzed the samples
MATRIX		Material used for analysis.
ANALYTE		name of analyte
BATCH_ID		laboratory batch id 
SAMPLE_ID		NCCA sample identifyer number
LAB_SAMPLE_ID		"laboratory's internal sample identification number, if applicable"
DATE_RECEIVED		date sample received at lab mm/dd/yyyy
DATE_ANALYZED		date sample was analyzed by the lab mm/dd/yyyy
HOLDING_TIME		number of days that have elapsed from sample collection to analysis
HOLDING_TIME_UNITS		days
RESULT		analytical result. Any results not deprecated have been evaluated  and are acceptable for use in NCCA assessment.
RESULT_UNITS		result unit
RL		laboratory reporting limit for analyte
MDL		laboratory method detectin limit for analyte
DILUTION_FACTOR		"dilution factor required to analyze sample, if applicable."
NARS_FLAG		National Aquatic Resource Survey standardized quality flag. ND = Nondetect (less than method detection limit); H = holding time issue; S = shipping issue; L = Less than reporting limit but above MDL;NR = No Result; Q = other quality issue. See NARS_COMMENT
NARS_COMMENT		Comment explaining NARS_FLAG
		
		
Change Log	
	
Publication Date 
Of Most recent
File Posted to
NARS Data Page 
        		Change
5/9/2024		Initial publication
10/25/2024		file refresh to update values for multiple variables. removed LAT_DD and LON_DD coordinates.