Sagehen Creek Field Station

17 Sep, 01 PM - 18 Sep, 05 PM

In 1963, the USGS established the Hydrologic Benchmark Network (HBN) to monitor streamflow and water quality in minimally disturbed streams and rivers to identify natural and human-induced changes in stream health. Luna Leopold, the USGS Director who proposed the HBN, envisioned that in addition to streamflow and water quality, vegetation and soils would also be monitored and the geology characterized for each watershed. Although HBN has focused on streamflow and water quality throughout its history, soil monitoring was added to the network in 2011. Monitoring changes in soil chemistry is a natural extension of the streamflow and water-quality monitoring that has been the basis for the HBN network because nearly all the water and chemicals deposited by the atmosphere pass through watershed soils before being delivered to streams. Soils also store most of the nutrients needed by water-shed flora and fauna and therefore are an important control of overall ecosystem health. Although changes in soil chemistry occur slowly (during periods ranging from 2 to 3 years to as long as 2 to 3 decades) compared with changes in streamflow and water quality (which take minutes to hours), many long-term trends in streamflow and water quality occur at rates similar to those of changes in soil chemistry. As a result, soil monitoring can provide a valuable tool for interpreting trends in water quality and for assessing environmental changes in USGS reference watersheds.

Visit #64430 @Sagehen Creek Field Station

Approved

Under Project # 43290 | Research

Long-term Soil Monitoring at U.S. Geological Survey Reference Watersheds

research_scientist - US Geological Survey

Reservation Members(s)

David Clow Sep 17 - 18, 2019 (2 days)
Group of 2 Research Scientist/Post Doc Sep 17 - 18, 2019 (2 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice