Current Data Charts

LACA's current cyano data are maintained in Microsoft Excel workbooks. The field data workbook contains water column (bottom-to-surface) field parameters at each station.  The Cyanobacteria data workbook contains our lab data that provides data on levels of two pigments contained within cyanobacteria cells, chlorophyll (CHL) and phycocyanin (PC).

All plants and several other species use CHL for energy production through a process called photosynthesis.  The CHL in the water is one of the reasons why the water sometimes appears green. PC is an auxiliary pigment to CHL, and it has a blue color.  The only species in the lake that contains the phycocyanin pigment are cyanobacteria, so we use those levels as an indicator of the cyanobacteria concentration at each station.

The LACA data spreadsheets are available at the links provided below.

LACA Field Data File

Our research objective is to determine if PC levels can be maintained below bloom levels throughout the recreational season in the LACA test areas of Goldmine and Duckinhole Creeks and within the small area of Pamunkey Creek where the ultrasound generator is located.

Plots of current PC and CHL levels at 12 of our monitoring stations are provided at the links provided below.