Water Quality Buoy Observations : Hilo Bay, Hawaiʻi Island
NOTE: Click on the plot below for data at a specific time.
NOTE: This instrument does not report in real-time. New data are retrieved periodically.
start date: : temperature: wave height: wind: rain: currents: site:
Disclaimer: Near real-time data have not been quality controlled.
Disclaimer: Data are released in compliance with real-time quality control standards.
Disclaimer: Real-time data are provided as raw and unaltered. Results of quality control checks are provided within the data set.
This water quality buoy (wqb_04) is located in Hilo Bay approximately 0.5 mile (0.8 km) offshore of Wailuku River in Hilo Bay on the windward (eastern) coast of Hawaiʻi Island (Big Island) in the State of Hawaiʻi. It is moored in waters 28 feet (8.5 m) deep. Data are recorded every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes from Oct 2021 through Oct 2023) and transmitted hourly. Water quality buoys monitor coastal water conditions to help provide early indications of potentially polluted run-off from storm drainage, sewage spills, and soil erosion from land-based waterways such as streams and other outflows that lead directly into the ocean. Owned and maintained by PacIOOS under the supervision of Dr. Steven Colbert and lab.
Instrument site. Credit: PacIOOS/Steve Colbert.
The Wailuku River is the largest watershed in Hawaiʻi, draining from the tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa all the way to the shoreline. The river has a complicated impact on the Hilo Bay estuary. The Wailuku River brings sediment and nutrients from the watershed, creating poor water quality in Hilo Bay after storms. On the other hand, the organic matter brought into the bay and the algae growth stimulated by nutrient inputs support nearshore fisheries.
