title: Assessment of seasonal variations in surface water quality.
abstract: Assessment of seasonal changes in surface water quality is an important aspect for evaluating temporal variations of river pollution due to natural or anthropogenic inputs of point and non-point sources. In this study, surface water quality data for 16 physical and chemical parameters collected from 22 monitoring stations in a river during the years from 1998 to 2001 were analyzed. The principal component analysis technique was employed to evaluate the seasonal correlations of water quality parameters, while the principal factor analysis technique was used to extract the parameters that are most important in assessing seasonal variations of river water quality. Analysis shows that a parameter that is most important in contributing to water quality variation for one season may not be important for another season except for DOC and electrical conductance, which were always the most important parameters in contributing to water quality variations for all four seasons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Water Resources, St. Johns River Water Management District, P.O. Box 1429, Palatka, FL 32178 1429, USA. ouyangy@ufl.edu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nkedi-Kizza
authors.forename: Q T
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shinde
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005431:Florida; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012621:Seasons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen