Southeastern Louisiana University deployed four buoys last week for the independent, scientific monitoring of the Lake Maurepas ecosystem as part of its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Government and with Air Products’ work on its Louisiana Clean Energy Complex.
Southeastern will gather baseline data within the aquatic and wetland realms prior to the initiation of any future carbon sequestration projects in Lake Maurepas.
An essential component of the project will be extensive environmental monitoring of the Lake Maurepas region, so that any impacts of the project can be understood and data be made publicly available. Specifically, the scientists from Southeastern will be monitoring the marine life populations (fishes, crabs, shrimp), as well as the plant life in the surrounding wetlands, and also watching and studying any variations in water quality.
Called the Blind, Amite, Tickfaw, and Maurepas buoys, the YSI Bay Buoys were named based on their geographic positions in the lake. The buoys are outfitted with sensors to monitor water parameters, including dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, and carbon dioxide. One buoy will be outfitted with a weather station to measure atmospheric parameters, including wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure and precipitation.
The website to access project data is southeastern.edu/lakemaurepas.
