Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Rhodamine WT dye concentrations measured at fixed locations in the Des Plaines River and Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Chicago, IL (November 14-29, 2011)

Metadata Updated: September 23, 2025

Data include Rhodamine WT dye concentrations measured every 3 or 10 minutes by means of Turner Designs C-3 and C-6 fluorometers with internal dataloggers at three fixed locations on the Des Plaines River (DPR) (DP-1, DP-2, and DP-3); in three groundwater monitoring wells (ACL-1, WP10-85, and WP9-275); and at two fixed locations on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) (SC-1 and SC-2) (see included Google Earth file AllDeployments_Locations.kmz). The detection limit for these fluorometers is reported to be 0.01 parts per billion (ppb). However, the fluorometer readings were affected by turbidity, and readings of less than about 1.0 part per billion (ppb) were considered to have been influenced by turbidity and variability in background fluorescence rather than indicative of the detection of dye. Measurements began prior to the arrival of dye at all locations (to ensure background concentrations were properly documented) and continued for 3–13 days after tracer injection ceased, depending on the location. Fluorometers were calibrated the day prior to the start of the study by using water from the site where the fluorometer was to be deployed to make the final dilution of the calibration solution. Turbidity sensors were not calibrated and therefore report only relative changes in background turbidity and not absolute turbidity values (all fluorometers either reported relative turbidity values in relative fluorescence units (RFU) or in Nephelometric turbidity units (NTU)). Fluorometers installed in the wells were deployed at the depths of hydraulically active fractures in each well. The fluorometer installed in the CSSC at the bottom of the ACL slip (SC-2) was mounted to a weighted frame and deployed adjacent to the canal wall near a potential hydraulically active fracture on the canal wall. The fluorometer placed upstream in the CSSC (SC-1) was a C-6 fluorometer, and it was deployed at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage 05536890 at a depth of approximately 10 feet below the water surface in an attempt to document any dye infiltration upstream of this site. All deployment locations are given in the provided Google Earth KMZ file.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 23, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 23, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-5706896de4b032f77a8a4560
Data Last Modified 2020-08-14T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id ed1e6777-a4eb-45f9-a8a5-9bd119d63339
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -88.093872070379, 41.590469618495, -87.753295898517, 41.836501878315
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 027e1d84bc9c8ae5dabef08399d13beafad12dd3f563f3ba4b211595e0a85b92
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -88.093872070379, 41.590469618495, -88.093872070379, 41.836501878315, -87.753295898517, 41.836501878315, -87.753295898517, 41.590469618495, -88.093872070379, 41.590469618495}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.