ISSS608 2017-18 T3 Assign Kalai Selvi Methodology and Dashboard Design
Question 1: Characterize the past and most recent situation with respect to chemical contamination in the Boonsong Lekagul waterways. Do you see any trends of possible interest in this investigation?
Cyclic Trend in Average Monthly Dissolved Oxygen and Water Temperature Readings observed across the years
Average monthly dissolved oxygen levels in the waterways consistently declines from January to July/August each year and increasing trend is observed from August to December for each year. On the other hand, increasing trends in monthly average water temperature readings is observed from January to August and decreasing trend is observed from August to December for each year.
Consistent Patterns for Petroleum Hydrocarbons Readings across locations
There was increasing trend in the average monthly Petroleum hydrocarbons readings from November 2010 to around February 2012 for Busarakhan, Somchair and Tansanee and an upwards trend from November 2010 to May 2012 for Chai and Kannika locations. After the upward spike in 2012, a decreasing trend was seen in the average monthly Petroleum hydrocarbons readings for all 5 locations around the same period.
Consistent Patterns for Nickel Readings across locations
Since 2011, the average monthly Nickel measure readings follows the same pattern for Busarakhan, Chai, Kannika, Sakda and Somchair locations and there was an sharp spike in the average monthly Nickel readings in the first half of 2016.
Decreasing Trends in Chlorodinine Readings
The Chlorodinine levels has been consistent for 2014 and 2015. The Chlorodinine readings recorded in 2016 are much lower compared to 2014 and 2015 readings. The range of Chlorodinine values were wider in 2014 and 2015 as seen from the inter quartile range (IQR) of the boxplots in 2014 and 2015.
Increasing Trends in Total Hardness levels
Total hardness levels have been generally declining from 2009 to 2010, and the value of the readings are closer in range in 2010 as seen with the smaller IQR. The total hardness levels were lowest in 2011 and 2012. Increasing trends in the total hardness levels were observed for 2014 to 2016 and the first quartile (25th percentile) is also at a higher value in 2014 to 2016 compared to previous years. There were more highly skewed total hardness readings in 2014 to 2016.
Question 2: What anomalies do you find in the waterway samples dataset? How do these affect your analysis of potential problems to the environment? Is the Hydrology Department collecting sufficient data to understand the comprehensive situation across the Preserve? What changes would you propose to make in the sampling approach to best understand the situation?