Hydrometeorological data from Marmot Creek Research Basin, Canadian Rockies

Meteorological, snow survey, streamflow, and groundwater data are presented from Marmot Creek Research Basin, Alberta, Canada. The basin is a 9.4 km2, alpine-montane forest headwater catchment of the Saskatchewan River Basin that provides vital water supplies to the Prairie Provinces of Canada. It was heavily instrumented, experimented upon and operated by several federal government agencies between 1962 and 1986, during which time its main and sub-basin streams were gauged, automated meteorological stations at multiple elevations were installed, groundwater observation wells were dug and automated, and frequent manual measurements of snow accumulation and ablation and other weather and water variables were made. Over this period, mature evergreen forests were harvested in two sub-basins, leaving large clear-cuts in one basin and a "honeycomb" of small forest clearings in another basin. Whilst meteorological measurements and sub-basin streamflow discharge weirs in the basin were removed in the late 1980s, the federal government maintained the outlet streamflow discharge measurements and a nearby high elevation meteorological station, and the Alberta provincial government maintained observation wells and a nearby fire weather station. Marmot Creek Research Basin was intensively re-instrumented with 12 automated meteorological stations, four sub-basin hydrometric sites and seven snow survey transects starting in 2004 by the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Hydrology. The observations provide detailed information on meteorology, precipitation, soil moisture, snowpack, streamflow, and groundwater during the historical period from 1962 to 1987 and the modern period from 2005 to the present time. These data are ideal for monitoring climate change, developing hydrological process understanding, evaluating process algorithms and hydrological, cryospheric or atmospheric models, and examining the response of basin hydrological cycling to changes in climate, extreme weather, and land cover through hydrological modelling and statistical analyses.

Fang, X., Pomeroy, J. W., DeBeer, C. M., Harder, P., Siemens, E. (2018). Hydrometeorological data from Marmot Creek Research Basin, Canadian Rockies [Dataset]. Version 02. Federated Research Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.20383/101.09.

Fang, X., Pomeroy, J. W., DeBeer, C. M., Harder, P., Siemens, E. (2019). Hydrometeorological data from Marmot Creek Research Basin, Canadian Rockies. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 455–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-455-2019.

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https://doi.org/10.20383/101.09