Great River Ecosystems Field Operations Manual

Schweiger, E; Hill, Brian; Bolgrien, David; Lazorchak, James; Emery, Erich; Jicha, Terri; Thomas, Jeff; Klemm, Donald; Peterson, Spence; Walters, David; Johnson, Brent; Bagley, Mark

This manual describes procedures for collecting samples and field measurements for biotic assemblages and abiotic characteristics of the Great Rivers of the Central Basin of the United States: the Missouri, Upper Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers. The purpose of this manual is to document the field procedures to be used in the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for Great River Ecosystems (EMAP-GRE). In addition to the technical and logistic aspects of field operations, this manual emphasizes health and safety considerations, data quality assurance (QA), and information management (IM). Not included in this manual are laboratory protocols, sample-design details, or protocols for data analysis or interpretation. The procedures in this manual are based on a variety of sources, including previously published EMAP manuals (e.g., Baker et al. 1997, Strobel and Heitmuller 2001, Peck et al., unpublished drafts), other EPA documents (Klemm et al. 1990, Barbour et al. 1999, Kaufmann et al. 1999, Flotermersch et al. 2000), an unpublished Upper Missouri River EMAP Field Operations Manual (Angradi et al. 2002), the unpublished findings of an EPA-sponsored workshop on Great River indicators (Angradi and Hill 2003), USGS NAWQA (Moulton et al. 2002) and USGS LTRMP protocols (e.g., Yin et al. 2000), the scientific literature, and the experience and professional judgement of section contributors. This manual is designed to be a comprehensive set of required procedures and checklists for EMAP-GRE field sampling. This manual is also an informal safety and QA guidance document for field crews; it is a reference document for planning EMAP-GRE field operations, including office-based reconnaissance activities; it is a training tool for EMAP-GRE crews; and it serves as documentation of methods in support of EMAP-GRE publications and products.