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USDA/ARS > Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture
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The GEM Model Location Time Series is one of the model output data sets provided in the Southern Great Plains - 1997 (SGP97). The full GEM MOLTS data set covers most of North America (up to 252 locations). MOLTS are hourly time series output at selected locations that contain values for various surface parameters and `sounding' profiles at GEM model levels and are derived from the GEM model output. The MOLTS output files were converted into Joint Office for Science Support (JOSS) Quality Control Format (QCF), the same format used for atmospheric rawinsonde soundings processed by JOSS. The MOLTS output provided by JOSS on-line includes only the initial analysis output (i.e. no forecast MOLTS) and only state parameters (pressure, altitude, temperature, humidity, and wind). The full output, including the forecast MOLTS and all output parameters, in its original format (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data, or BUFR) is available from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)/Scientific Computing Division. The Atmospheric Environment Service/Canadian Meteorological Centre (AES/CMC) operates the GEM model with a resolution of 35 km and 28 vertical levels. The GEM analysis and forecast fields are generated every 12 hours at 0000 and 1200 UTC daily. MOLTS are hourly vertical profile and surface time series derived from the GEM model output. The complete MOLTS output includes 13 informational items, 27 parameters for each level and 28 parameters at the surface. Output are available each hour beginning at the initial analysis (the only output available from JOSS) and ending at the 36 hour forecast. JOSS converts the raw format (BUFR) files into JOSS QCF format which is the same format used for atmospheric sounding data such as National Weather Service (NWS) soundings. JOSS calculated the total wind speed and direction from the u and v wind components. JOSS calculated the mixing ratio from the specific humidity (Pruppacher and Klett 1980) and the dew point from the mixing ratio (Wallace and Hobbs 1977). Then the relative humidity was calculated from the dew point (Bolton 1980). JOSS did not conduct any quality control on this output. The header records (15 total records) contain output type, project ID, the location of the nearest station to the MOLTS location (this can be a rawinsonde station, an Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM)/Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) station, a wind profiler station, a surface station, or just the nearest town), the location of the MOLTS output, and the valid time for the MOLTS output. The five header lines contain information identifying the sounding, and have a rigidly defined form. The following 6 header lines are used for auxiliary information and comments about the sounding, and they vary significantly from dataset to dataset. The last 3 header records contain header information for the data columns. Line 13 holds the field names, line 14 the field units, and line 15 contains dashes ('-' characters) delineating the extent of the field.
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Over the past five decades, the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have collected stream flow, reservoir, and groundwater data in the Fort Cobb Reservoir Experimental Watershed (FCREW) and Southern Great Plains Research Watershed (SGPRW), which includes the Little Washita River Experimental Watershed (LWREW) in central Oklahoma. The climate in these watersheds is subhumid, with average annual rainfall of 800 mm (1971-2000 average for Caddo County; Oklahoma Climatology Survey, 2005). The drainage area of the SGPRW is 2927 km2 and includes the LWREW. The LWREW covers an area of 610 km2 and consists of mixed agricultural land use, mainly pasture and rangeland that covers 68% of the total area. The topography is rolling with a maximum relief of 180 m and sandy to loamy soils. Of the 13 USGS stream gauges in the LWREW, two of them, ARS 522 and ARS 526, were initially managed by the USDA-ARS but decommissioned in 1985. Gauge ARS 522 was colocated with the USGS stream gauge ID 7327490, and data from this gauge were used when ARS 522 was discontinued. In 1992, the USGS installed the stream gauge ID 7327447 at the same location (Little Washita River near Cement, OK) where ARS 526 existed. For the stream gauges ID 522 and 526 installed by the ARS, stream stage data were obtained using a Hg manometer bubble gauge and a continuous stage recorder. Periodic stream discharge measurements were made during rain events and low-flow periods to define the relationship between flow discharge and stage. Discharge data by time increments were computed from the stage charts by the stage shift method (Corbett, 1943; Brakensiek et al., 1979). The directly measured data are the stage, which is then used to estimate discharge using stage-discharge relationships. All measurements made at USGS gaging stations are quality assured and quality controlled. The equipment used to make the measurements is securely housed and regularly checked for calibration and drift. Current meters are spin tested before use and checked after use if the measured value is deemed questionable.
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Climate variability, changing land use and management, and dynamic policy environments are the main reasons why long-term water quality data sets are needed to understand and predict possible water quality outcomes to alternative future scenarios. Such data sets were acquired by the USDA-ARS in three watersheds in Oklahoma: the Southern Great Plains Research Watershed (SGPRW), the Little Washita River Experimental Watershed (LWREW), and the Fort Cobb Reservoir Experimental Watershed (FCREW). Water quality data collection in the SGPRW began in the 1960s and continued through 1978, while that in the LWREW covered the 1960s to 1990 period. Data collection began in the FCREW in 2004 and continues through the present. The data were collected from streams, unit source watersheds, groundwater wells, and reservoirs. It should be noted that various forms of P—reactive P, total P, soluble P, water-soluble P, particulate P, bioavailable P, total water-soluble P—were measured and are described here as given in the original data sets. No effort was made to determine the similarity of these variables.
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This dataset links to the Jornada data homepage, which links to 153 individual datasets. Those datasets can then be searched based on Title, Keyword, or Investigator. The EcoTrends project is a collaborative effort among state and federal agencies and institutions, at present primarily in the US, to make long-term ecological data easy to access, analyze, and compare within and across sites. This website is a portal to a large and diverse collection of standardized long-term ecological datasets and their metadata (> 1200 datasets), unique data exploration, download, graphing and synthesis tools, and information about participating research sites and their parent agencies.
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The Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment originated from an interdisciplinary investigation, "Soil Moisture Mapping at Satellite Temporal and Spatial Scales" (PI: Thomas J. Jackson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD) selected under the NASA Research Announcement 95-MTPE-03. The Continental-scale International Project (GCIP) Enhanced Observing Period (EOP) takes place in the Mississippi River basin, which provides a number of watershed areas that are potentially useful for hydrologic focused studies. This data set was provided to University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)/Joint Office for Science Support (JOSS) by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Environmental Sciences Division. ARM has completed reprocessing the SWATS data. Data for SGP/all SWATS facilities/SWATS (beginning of sampling through August 15, 2001) have been replaced on the CODIAC system as of October 1, 2002. Additional reprocessing (since the early 2001 reprocessing) accomplished the following: (1) introduced corrected calibration coefficients for determining matric potential and soil water content; (2) used the "second generation technique" to obtain matric potential; (3) set erroneous values for temperature rise, soil water potential, and volumetric water content to missing values; and (4) eliminated (rare) duplicate measurements within files and (more frequent) overlaps of measurements between adjacent files.
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A long-term water quality database has been developed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit to support water quality research within WE-38, a 7.3 km2 experimental subwatershed of Mahantango Creek Watershed located in east central Pennsylvania and draining to the Susquehanna River. Water quality data were collected at the outflow of WE-38, with record lengths of 24 years (1983-2007) for nitrate-N and ammonium-N and 23 years (1984-2007) for orthophosphate-P. The water quality sampling site is located 130 m upstream from the WE-38 weir and 30 m upstream of a footbridge that spans the stream channel. At base flow (discharge ~0.16m3 s-1), the width of the stream channel is about 1.8 m, and the thalweg depth is about 0.2 m.
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Data from a precipitation gauge network on the WE-38 Experimental Watershed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit (PSWMRU) operates a precipitation gauge network on the WE-38 Experimental Watershed to support long-term intensive research on the impacts of agriculture on water quality in the northeast United States. The WE-38 Watershed is situated within the Northern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys Province and drains 7.3 km2 of mostly rolling farmland within the northern portion of the Mahantango Creek Watershed, a 420 km2 tributary to the Susquehanna River about 48 km north of Harrisburg in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. In 1966, scientists from the Northeast Watershed Research Center (NWRC) established an intensive rainfall monitoring network throughout Mahantango Creek Watershed, consisting of 43 rain gauges located to provide uniform aerial coverage and characterize the full range of elevations in Mahantango Creek Watershed. In 1996, the advent of data-logging and measurement technology made it possible to upgrade the existing network of Fischer-Porter rain gauges. The digital punch paper tape system (drive shaft and gears) and weighing mechanism on each Fischer-Porter gauge were replaced with an Interface (Model SSB-AJ-100) load cell and connected to a Campbell CR10X data logger. The load cell data-logging system, which is still in use today, records accumulated precipitation every 5 minutes to the nearest 0.254 mm.
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The Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment originated from an interdisciplinary investigation, "Soil Moisture Mapping at Satellite Temporal and Spatial Scales" (PI: Thomas J. Jackson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD) selected under the NASA Research Announcement 95-MTPE-03. The region selected for investigation is the best instrumented site for surface soil moisture, hydrology and meteorology in the world. This includes the USDA/ARS Little Washita Watershed, the USDA/ARS facility at El Reno, Oklahoma, the ARM/CART central facility, as well as the Oklahoma Mesonet. The High Plains Climate Network (HPCN) dataset is one of various datasets provided for the Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) project. This dataset contains HPCN data from 15 stations in the SGP97 domain. This dataset covers the complete SGP97 time period (18 June 1997 through 18 July 1997) and for the SGP97 domain. The SGP97 domain is approximately 97W to 99W longitude and 34.5N to 37N latitude. The HPCN dataset contains different parameters depending upon the reporting station. Each station provides Station Name, State, and Identification Number preceding that station's data within the dataset. Each parameter column has a self explanatory title indicating the data available for that station and parameter units.
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SGP97 GCIP/NESOB-97 Sub-Surface: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) Daily Soil Temperature Dataset
The Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment originated from an interdisciplinary investigation, "Soil Moisture Mapping at Satellite Temporal and Spatial Scales" (PI: Thomas J. Jackson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD) selected under the NASA Research Announcement 95-MTPE-03. The Continental-scale International Project (GCIP) Enhanced Observing Period (EOP) takes place in the Mississippi River basin, which provides a number of watershed areas that are potentially useful for hydrologic focused studies. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) Soil Temperature Dataset is one of several surface datasets provided for the Global Energy and Water-Balance Experiment (GEWEX) Continental-Scale International Project (GCIP) Near Surface Observation Data Set (NESOB) 1997 project. This dataset was formed by extracting soil temperature data from the GCIP/Enhanced Seasonal Observing Period 1997 (GCIP/ESOP-97) NCDC Summary of the Day Co-operative Dataset (TD-3200) for the NESOB 1997 area and time of interest. This NCDC Soil Temperature Dataset contains data from approximately 12 stations reporting soil temperature data for the NESOB 1997 time period (01 April 1997 through 31 March 1998) and in a domain slightly beyond that of NESOB 1997 (approximately 94.5W to 102W longitude and 34N to 39.5N latitude). The NCDC Soil Temperature Dataset contains seven metadata parameters and eighteen data parameters and flags. The metadata parameters describe the date, network, station and location at which the data were collected. Data values are valid for the 24 hours preceding the time of observation, and all times are UTC. Some stations may report soil temperatures at observation time twice a day. Separate records will occur for both observation times.
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The Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment originated from an interdisciplinary investigation, "Soil Moisture Mapping at Satellite Temporal and Spatial Scales" (PI: Thomas J. Jackson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD) selected under the NASA Research Announcement 95-MTPE-03. The region selected for investigation is the best instrumented site for surface soil moisture, hydrology and meteorology in the world. This includes the USDA/ARS Little Washita Watershed, the USDA/ARS facility at El Reno, Oklahoma, the ARM/CART central facility, as well as the Oklahoma Mesonet. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) Summary of the Day Co-operative Dataset is one of several surface datasets provided for the Southern Great Plains (SGP) 1997 project. This NCDC Co-operative Observer (COOP) dataset contains data from sixty-two stations for the SGP 1997 time period (18 June 1997 through 18 July 1997) and in the SGP 1997 domain (approximately 97W to 99W longitude and 34.5N to 37N latitude). The primary thrust of the cooperative observing program is the recording of 24-hour precipitation amounts, but approximately 55% of the stations also record maximum and minimum temperatures. The observations are for the 24-hour period ending at the time of observation. Observer convenience or special program needs mean that observing times vary from station to station. However, the vast majority of observations are taken near either 7:00 AM or 7:00 PM local time. The NCDC Summary of the Day Co-operative Dataset (TD-3200) contains eight metadata parameters and fifteen data parameters and flags. The metadata parameters describe the date/time, network, station and location at which the data were collected. All times are UTC. Data values are valid for the 24 hours preceding the time of observation.