Continuous Water Level, Salinity, and Temperature Data from Creeks and Monitoring Wells in Natural and Restored Wetlands on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2019

Sensors measuring conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) were bench tested for accuracy in the laboratory at the beginning and end of the field season as described below.
Data from temperature sensors logging in air were compared to a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Traceable Digital Thermometer (Fisher brand) co-deployed on the bench. Logged temperature readings that were within manufacturer's accuracy specification of temperature measured by the NIST Traceable Thermometer were deemed acceptable.
Salinity sensors were checked with a purchased calibration standard (Ricca 50.000 millisiemens per centimeter, catalog number 2248-1) and re-calibrated as needed. Salinity sensors were also field checked periodically and re-calibrated as needed. Some noisy data from well deployments may be attributed to low water levels or air bubbles and thus only partial submergence of the conductivity sensor. Although obvious errors and large jumps in the data were removed, some of this "noisy" salinity data was included to allow for as much data as possible in the continuous record. At some sites, stratification within the well would yield a change in logged salinity on maintenance dates as removal of the logger for download and subsequent re-deployment resulted in mixing of water within the well. This artifact was deemed acceptable if the change in salinity was within the overall range of salinity observed at the site over the study period. Noisy salinity data was only included if data from all other logged parameters were deemed acceptable.
Water level sensors were tested in the laboratory for accuracy by comparing logged pressure readings in air to the barometers used for barometric compensation; logged pressure readings that were within manufacturer's accuracy specification of the barometer's logged pressure in air were deemed acceptable. The make and model of the water level logger and barometer used for each water level measurement are included as attributes in the file SensorDeploymentHeights_2019.csv; the manufacturer's accuracy and resolution specifications for each continuous monitoring sensor are stated in the process steps regarding well logger deployment and atmospheric corrections or in the attribute definitions.
Data were exported as logged by each sensor. Calculated attributes of water level ("dbs" and "WL_NAVD88) from all sensor types are reported to a resolution of 0.001 meters to allow for relative point-to-point comparisons. However, accuracy of these calculated parameters is dependent upon sensor accuracy, manual measurements of deployment depths, and RTK GPS elevation measurements. For example, the unconsolidated nature of the sediment surface at many sites (thick thatch, water above the land surface resulting in wet, fluid, dynamic sediment surface) may affect the accuracy of land surface measurements. Approximate accuracy of this measurement technique is 1-5 centimeters.