Database Development to Support Spatiotemporal Analysis of Coastal Maine Mercury Data

The Need
Sources of Mercury (Hg) to Maine’s water and soils have been reduced due to effective environmental regulations, but Hg contamination is still considered a significant problem. Mercury concentrations in Maine aquatic biota are still among the nation’s highest due in part to the global transport of Hg in the atmosphere. The threat of Hg exposure to human health has prompted widespread fish consumption advisories across most of the United States and Canada.

For decades, high amounts of Hg in Maine prompted research on Hg in atmospheric deposition and in the landscape. Monitoring changes in Hg levels in the environment has been complicated by a lack of historical data, differences in methods and experimental design among projects, and the differences in Hg concentrations across different scales. Numerous studies on Hg have been carried out in Maine with widely varying spatial and temporal scales. These disparate, legacy data sets are valuable resources from which Hg sinks and sources across multiple ecosystem pools can be identified.

Program Overview & Objectives
Analysis of Hg patterns in space and through time in coastal Maine – contextualized by landscape, season, and other influential variables – will be possible with a complimentary database design that can organize different data sources. Extensive biotic, surface water and sediment sampling data exist that can facilitate the comparison of Hg bioaccumulation across multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this research, we will synthesize the legacy Hg data from Maine to evaluate spatiotemporal patterns in Hg and enhance the interpretation of fate and transport relationships among coastal ecosystem pools. Our objectives are to:

• Develop, compile, and standardize metadata for available legacy Hg datasets
• Contextualize Hg data spatially and temporally by landscape, climatological, and time factors to aid in comparison among multiple ecosystem Hg pools
• Characterize the spatiotemporal patterns in Hg concentrations by landscape and seasonal contexts
• Test hypotheses using the coordinated database, particularly relating to patterns among upland and estuarine ecosystem Hg.

Project Plan
With thorough metadata development, data joined with landscape and climatological factors, and GIS integration of spatial features, we will explore spatiotemporal patterns and test hypotheses relating to patterns among upland and estuarine ecosystem Hg. Outcomes of this research will include the populated database available for future Hg assessments, public resource brief summarizing coastal Maine Hg.

Contact Information
Kate Beard
Spatial Info. Sci. & Eng.
344 Boardman Hall
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
beard@spacial.maine.edu

Melinda Neville
Spatial Info. Sci. & Eng.
127 Boardman Hall
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
mneville@maine.edu

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