SCCF Recon

The River, Estuary and Coastal Observing Network

Sanibel -Captiva Conservation Foundation

Welcome to the New RECON Website

Published: Dec 19 2016

Welcome to the new RECON website! The River, Estuary and Coastal Observing Network (RECON), is the only source of Real-time data about the condition of waters surrounding Sanibel and Captiva Islands. The network was established to provide scientific validation of the estuary's changing conditions and to better understand the processes causing these changes. The new website is data-driven, similar to the previous site, but improvements include the addition of additional information to frame the data to answer questions like, "What does this mean?," and "Why is it important to understand salinity?" While scientists use this site to report the condition of the estuary to state and federal agencies, the new and improved website provides more meaningful data and information to policy makers and to the general public.

RECON measures several key water quality parameters such as: temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, depth, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), chlorophyll a, turbidity. Additionally, several RECON sites are equipped with meteorological sensors which measure wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Tide predictions, wind and boater forecast feeds were brought in to help plan fishing trips or your next boat trip. The improved site development was funded by Lee County and the West Coast Inland Navigation District in 2016.

Since it's establishment in 2007, RECON has collected over 438,045 samples at 8 locations in southwest Florida. The use of the data has increased steadily over time and is in peer-reviewed scientific publications with over 89,000 online users and 662,000 page views.