Thirty‐five years of research data collection at the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed, Idaho, United States

Abstract

Abstract. Comprehensive, long-term hydrologic data sets for watershed systems are valuable for hydrologic process research; for interdisciplinary ecosystem analysis; for model development, calibration, and validation; and for assessment of change over time. The Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in southwestern Idaho, United States, was established in 1960 and provides a research facility and comprehensive long-term database for science. Spatial data layers for terrain, soils, geology, vegetation, and basic site mapping features and databases for fundamental hydrologic parameters of precipitation, snow, climate, soil microclimate, and stream discharge and sediment concentration are now available for water years 1962-1996 and are described in the following eight data reports. IntroductionFlooding and associated damage, droughts and water shortages, and compromised water quality are major concerns currently facing populations worldwide. Understanding these issues requires that the hydrologic research community have access to high-quality long-term data sets. Hydrologic data acquisition, processing, analysis, and archiving, however, is often arduous and is always expensive.The Soils derived from granitec and volcanic rocks and lake sediments are present on the watershed and range from shallow, desertic soils at lower elevations to deep commonly moist soils at the higher elevations which are dominated by forests. Plant communities at lower elevations are typical of the Great Basin Desert, while forest and alpine plant communities may be found in the higher, more mesic sectors. Sagebrushgrassland communities dominate most of the watershed, while mountain big sagebrush, aspen, subalpine fir, and Douglas fir communities are found in areas of higher snow accumulation. Annual water yield varies over the watershed from a few millimeters in small subdrainages in lower portions of RCEW to 2819

Implications of climate-driven variability and trends for the hydrologic assessment of the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed, Idaho

“…Perennial streamflow originates from the higher elevations of the basin where snowmelt is the primary source of water supply (Seyfried et al 2001). Reynolds creek is a third-order perennial stream that flows from south to north and drains to the Snake River (Slaughter et al 2001). Soils at RCEW are highly heterogeneous with most of the watershed has steep, rocky, shallow soils, but deep, loamy soils can also be found at few high elevation areas where forest communities dominate the land surface (Slaughter et al 2001;Seyfried et al 2001).…”

“…Reynolds creek is a third-order perennial stream that flows from south to north and drains to the Snake River (Slaughter et al 2001). Soils at RCEW are highly heterogeneous with most of the watershed has steep, rocky, shallow soils, but deep, loamy soils can also be found at few high elevation areas where forest communities dominate the land surface (Slaughter et al 2001;Seyfried et al 2001). About 77% of the land within the watershed is publically (federal and state) owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).…”

Hourly mass and snow energy balance measurements from Mammoth Mountain, CA USA, 2011–2017

“…One of the largest ski areas in North America, Mammoth Mountain currently has 28 ski lifts, including a gondola that operates nearly year-round, making CUES highly accessible relative to other high-altitude scientific research sites, including the Senator Beck (Landry et al, 2014) and Reynolds Creek (Slaughter et al, 2001) sites. With an average peak SWE of 128 cm, CUES also has a much deeper snowpack than the five long-term energy balance sites in the western US, although its snow climate is not strictly maritime due to infrequent winter rain (Bair, 2013).…”

Simulating watershed runoff with a new data model

“…This watershed has been well studied and is the basis of a high-quality long-term dataset that was recently released to the research community; it is available via anonymous ftp: ftp.nwrc.ars.usda.gov, and is maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Northwest Watershed Research Center in Boise, Idaho, United States (http://www.nwrc.ars.usda.gov). Seyfried et al (2001a); Slaughter et al (2001) and Marks (2001) provide a detailed description of the RCEW, which we summarize here. The RCEW is 239 km 2 , ranging in elevation from 1101 m to 2241 m above mean sea level.…”