Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations pond study

after reading all of the posts on the topic of aeration supercooling I am curious as to what parameters would be chosen to study. I am also curious if the season variations of ponds, which we all know vary by location, can be classified by simply noting which vegitation zone you live in. If that's the case then we can easily divide up the country by plant zones and similar ponds in the same zones should behave similarly. Then if Dave Willis could provide a few parameters maybe more pondmeisters across the land can do some testing and present the data and we can work out some reliable interpretations for all ponds in specific zones. It's been a long time since I've been a grad student but I can test with the best of them and I'd be willing to run tests on my pond and even a few local ponds near me to acquire some data. I know this years too late to organize something like this but if this interests anyone else out there I'm sure there are alot of options to do the work without involving grad students, or better yet to supply a greater range of data than they could amass on their own. This forum brings together a wide range of ecosystems and encompasses the entire climate spectrum as well, maybe with a little networking here we can learn something which can benefit us all.

PAPond, I'd be happy to offer up my ponds for testing. They are located in Lookout, just off 191 15 miles north of Honesdale. I live and work 2 hours away in NYC, so I don't know how much help I could be, but would love to learn more about my ponds.
Jimmy

I would also be glad to volunteer to provide water temperature and O2 data for my midwest 2 acre pond. I have easy access and can take readings daily since its in my back yard. I am looking to purchase an inexpensive O2 analyzer for the water.
I have an aerator, but I leave it off during the winter because I assume it is not necessary for a Missouri pond. Maybe I'm wrong?

I'm in!

I have temp. and DO monitors available. We need to have some consistency in methodology. I.E. How deep to place sensors and how frequently to take measurements.

Dave--What's most useful?

Bruce -- like you, I'm planning to get some temperature and dissolved oxygen readings this winter (in sort of a preliminary study). My thought was to try to get a temperature profile and oxygen profile from just under the ice to the bottom. I think we will just do those at 1-meter intervals from top to bottom. Also, I think we will try to follow the trends over time. So, we just got our first ice in the last week or two. I'd say we will try to at least get samples once per month, and thinking out loud here, it probably would be better to shoot for once every 2-3 weeks. I'm not overly worried about regular time intervals between sampling, as I just want to see what is happening in general.

Is that what you were asking?? I'm open to other ideas, but I think this would help me get a feel for what is occuring in some of our nearby ponds.

Dave

I've got some free time tomorrow. I'll collect data starting then. I believe our ice is thick enough right now.

1 meter increments, top to bottom. I'll also document ice thickness and snow cover at time of readings.

My pond isn't solid enough to support me yet, but when it is what data should we take, just temp and O2? Sampling just below the ice and every meter to the bottom. I'm still sampling the water and using wet chemistry for analysis. I've heard that someone makes a combination DO probe and thermometer. Does anyone have any info on these units and who sells them? The right tools will make this quick and easy.

One option would be to call these guys and ask for Robert Hampl. He knows where to get this type of device. I know him personally.

http://www.isco.com/

PaPond, look into www.aquaticeco.com as Aquatic Eco Systems has many to choose from. I use the YSI 55 ($664.00)and see they have a version of that as a YSI model 200 for considerably less.Be sure to get a supply of the cold water membranes for the probe as I believe warm water membranes are standard when shipped.They can also be reached at 877-347-4788 and have some very good tech people.I just received the 05 catalog with over 13500 products in it.(kinda like a candy store)I only had about an inch of ice when the 12-18 snow hit here in Ohio so no idea what the ice thickness is even though it was 12 below this Xmas am.I see 40 50 F in the forecast so will wait until it warms up a bit so it wont be so cold if I "crash" through the ice.:)Curious to start taking DO and temp readings also,Good Luck Ted