The HAB monitoring database was created to consolidate historical
and current Florida red tide sampling information. Data recorded in
the database includes sample location, organism counts, water
quality measurements, and other related data.
Florida has one of the largest and
longest continually recorded electronic HAB databases in the United
States. Florida red tide data collected since 1953 by government
and private sources were originally stored as hardcopy datasheets
and in separate electronic files. In 1999, FWRI scientists
recognized the need to consolidate existing statewide red tide
sampling information into a single electronic format and developed
a relational HAB database designed to capture core historical data
and related sampling information. Data transferred to the database
include location coordinates, cell counts of Karenia
brevis (the Florida red tide organism) and other HAB species,
and a broad selection of oceanographic and water quality
measurements such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen.
The database is continually updated with current information as
data are received. Database managers routinely analyze the database
and provide results to FWC scientists and other researchers.
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