Data for this project came from the Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC) water quality database. Data years ranged from 1987-2010. The parameters analyzed were salinity, temperature and nutrient concentration. Upwelling data at 48°N (opening of the Strait of Juan de Fuca) were taken from NOAA. Fraser River flow data were collected by the United States Geological Survey. Data used for upwelling and river flow were matched with dates from the SPMC water quality database. Each parameter was compared against upwelling and river flow to observe trends between the physical properties and the local factors. Regressions were done and a yearly trend was calculated for upwelling and river flow by averaging every data point for each season of the year. This showed the particular variations in upwelling and river flow for this region.

ENSO and PDO year periods were taken from Climate Impacts Group data. An exact date match could not be used for ENSO and PDO. However, we were able to match year periods of ENSO and PDO with the SPMC data. The 10 highest and lowest temperature readings for each season (winter, spring, summer, and fall) were compared to ENSO and PDO phases. The highest and coolest periods (a warm PDO phase occurring with an El Niño and a cool PDO phase occurring with a La Niña ENSO phase) were compared using a box and whisker plot. The average temperature of each for each season was compared to observe temperature changes between the highest and lowest temperature periods.
Page Updated 06.12.2012