Summary
Since 1975, STRI has maintained a physical oceanographic monitoring program. This program has historically consisted of sea surface temperature monitoring (SST) which is describe at another location.
In addition to monitoring SST, STRI has also monitored at different times and locations salinity, transparency, pH, etc. Ocean monitoring of salinity, transparency and dissolved oxygen was initiated in the area of the Bocas station in 1999. With the inauguration of the MarineGEO program in 2015, this program was greatly expanded in terms of the quality, quantity and spatial coverage of the monitoring. Details and data for the Bocas oceanographic monitoring program (not including the MarineGEO sponsored data) can be found on the links bellow.
In Galeta, salinity was monitored between 1986 and 2011.
Beginning in 2017, water quality monitoring was initiated at Naos Island and in the Bay of Panama.
Naos Island monitoring consists of manually obtained, spot readings between 7:30 and 9:30am, 3-5 times per week. Temperature, pH and salinity measurements are taken at the STRI Docks on the east and west sides of Naos Island. In addition, measurements are taken in the STRI’s Naos aquariums. Measurements are made with a YSI Pro Plus meter with a 4-sensor head.
Monitoring in the Bay of Panama consists of 5-meter depth profiles at seven locations, approximately once per week, using an YSI EXO 2 Sonde. The following parameters are measured: temperature, salinity, pH, chlorophyll, transparency, dissolved organic matter and dissolved oxygen.