Upper Saranac Lake Environmental Monitoring Platform

Platform Description

The Paul Smith's College Adirondack Watershed Institute and the Upper Saranac Foundation installed an environmental monitoring platform at the South Basin of Upper Saranac Lake, NY, in May of 2017. The platform is an autonomous in-lake station that collects key physical, chemical, and biological data to enhance our understanding of lake ecosystems in support of lake and watershed science and management. Weather and limnological data collected by the platform are transmitted in near real-time to Paul Smith's College where data is displayed on this website. Historical data is freely available to the wider scientific community by request to the Paul Smith's College Adirondack Watershed Institute. Support for the environmental monitoring platform comes from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Upper Saranac Foundation.

Lake Characteristics

  • Located in the northern Adirondacks at an elevation of 1,572 feet (479 meters)

  • Has 47 miles of shoreline

  • Is the among the largest lakes in the interior highlands of the Adirondacks with a surface area of 7.6 square miles

Collected Data

The data collected by the platform is valuable to lake residents, recreational users, and scientists. Recreational users can view Upper Saranac Lake water temperature and wind condition in near real-time, helping them to plan safe outings on the lake.

The Upper Saranac Lake Environmental Monitoring Platform collects the following data:

  • Meteorological Information - displays air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, photosynthetically active radiation, precipitation and wind speed and direction. A weekly time series of air temperature and precipitation is also displayed, as well as a photograph of the lake that updates every 30 minutes.

  • Current Water Conditions - displays a time series of surface water temperature that updates hourly and vertical profiles of water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll-a that update every four hours.

  • Profiler Time Series - displays historical data for water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll-a profiles in graphical displays that show the seasonal dynamics of these properties.

Heatmap Plot of Water Column Temperature in 2021