Using the Site

Users of the VECOS website can currently access five types of water quality data: DATAFLOW data, fixed continuous station data, real-time continous station data, longterm data, and profiler data. Descriptions of these type of data can be found in the ABOUT THE DATA section of this website.

All monitoring is organized by Chesapeake Bay Program segments, which are derived from the salinity regime of the area. For instance, the main stem of the York River is represented by two segments: the York Polyhaline (YRKPH) and York Mesohaline (YRKMH).

To navigate through this site, use the map or dropdown boxes on the homepage to access sites of interest. A dynamic legend is included in the map on the homepage that allows the user to hide or show data types of interest on the map. Also note that the categories of data (water quality, weather, or segments) can be collapsed or expanded within the legend. Hovering over the icons on the map results in the target station or Dataflow cruise name floating by the cursor. Click on a segment or station of interest to visit the associated data page. On this page the user can navigate to another segment by using the Regional View Map on the right or by navigating back to the homepage by click on the "home" link on the left. A description and image of the cruise segment or continuos station is found on the right side of the data page.

Dataflow Data:

The Dataflow data detail page may be accessed from the homepage by clicking on a purple circle icon on the map or selecting a Dataflow cruise segment from the dropdown menu. The associated detail page dispays interpolations for the most recent cruise date for each parameter. The user can switch to a different date by using the scroll window and clicking on the cruise date of interest. The selected data may also be downloaded by clicking on the "Download Data for Selected Date" button

Fixed Continuous Station Data:

The Continuous data detail page may be accessed from the homepage by clicking on a green (only continuous) or blue (continuous and realtime access) triangle icon on the map or selecting a continuos station of interest from the dropdown menu. As a default, the associated continuous detail page will plot the most recent 7 days of archived data. To view data for another set of dates, the user can use the calendars to select a start and end date and then click the “View Data Plots” button. At any time the selected range of data may be downloaded by clicking the “Download Archived Data” button.

Realtime Continuous Station Data:

When the user selects a station with Realtime data (blue triangle icon on map), the browser is directed to the associated continous station detail Page. Realtime station detail pages have the same options as on the above description of the Fixed Continuous Station Data, but also includes a “View Realtime Data” button. If you click this button a new browser window will direct the user to a page hosted on a partner's website displaying the realtime water quality or weather data for this site. The realtime data is not available for download.

Longterm Station Data:

Clicking on a longterm station on the map will take you to the entire water quality record for the station that you clicked in .csv format via an external link to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Data Hub web api. Please see here for further information on these data.

Profiler Data:

The Profiler data page may be accessed from the homepage by clicking on a yellow star icon on the map. The associated detail page dispays interpolations for the most recent week for each parameter. The user can switch to a different week by using the scroll window and clicking on the cruise date of interest. The selected data may also be downloaded by clicking on the "Download Data for Selection" button

Downloaded Data:

Once you have downloaded data files you will see that for some data, the cell is blank and there is an error code associated with the data. For definitions of the error codes see the "About the Data" link on the menu located on the top menu of this website.