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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Boise, Idaho » Northwest Watershed Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #96791
Title: LONG-TERM RANGELAND WATERSHED DATA: THE EXAMPLE OF REYNOLDS CREEK EXPERIMENTAL WATERSHED, NORTHWESTERN, USA

Author
item Slaughter, Charles
item Burgess, Michael
item BALLARD, EDWARD - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/8/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Understanding hydrologic processes of rangeland watersheds and assessing change over time are facilitated by long- duration baseline data sets. Such data sets should meet rigorous criteria for site selection, documentation, quality control, archiving, and availability for analysis. Few long- term data sets are available for rangeland watershed/stream systems. One example is the 35-year record at the 234 km2 Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW) in Idaho, USA. RCEW has high relief and diversity of geology, soils, aspect,vegetation and land use. Annual precipitation varies from 23 cm at the lowest elevation (1098 m) to over 110 cm(over 75% as snow) at the headwaters (>2200 m). Climate, precipitation and streamflow are measured with an array of 16 dual-gauge precipitation sites, five comprehensive climate stations, seven snow courses and nine stream gaging stations. Hydrologic and climatic data are transmitted daily by VHF radio telemetry to Boise, Idaho, for relational data base archiving. These data sets are utilized in hypothesis testing and analysis of specific hydrometeorologic issues, in development and validation of hydrologic and rangeland simulation models for research and management, and in assessment of change in hydrologic regime over annual to multi-decade time frames. This data is available for use in regional, national and international comparative analyses of rangeland watershed systems.