The Water Quality Monitoring Network (WQMN) is a research group directed by Dr. Henry Briceno within the Institute of Environment at Florida International University (FIU). The function of the Water Quality Monitoring Network is to address regional water quality concerns that exist outside the boundaries of individual political entities.
Funding for the Network has come from many different sources with individual programs being added as funding became available. Field sampling occurs over different time periods due to the nature of the funding. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Southwest Florida Shelf are sampled quarterly.
The data summary maps are produced on a quarterly basis by integrating the individual projects into one data file for that month sampled. Previous surveys of Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay & Whitewater Bay, Ten Thousand Islands, and Marco-Pine Island Sound were sampled monthly.
The advantages of having this Network operated from the same facility include site continuity, consistency in analytic methodology, and ease of data integration. The product is a quasi-synoptic "big picture" as to what is happening in the South Florida coastal waters.