Watersheds

PIE LTER, Year 2016, 15 minute measurements of stage in a small headwater stream draining a highly suburban catchment (72% residential), Saw Mill Brook, Burlington, MA.

Abstract: 

Year 2016, continuous measurements, every 15 minutes, were made of depth and stream temperature in a small headwater stream, Saw Mill Brook, Burlington, MA, draining a highly suburban catchment (72% residential).    Discharge is determined from stage using discharge vs stage regressions.

Core Areas: 

Data set ID: 

558

Keywords: 

Short name: 

WAT-YSI-Urban-2016

Data sources: 

WAT-YSI-Urban-2016_csv
WAT-YSI-Urban-2016_xls

Methods: 

This file consists of depth data collected using a HOBO datalogger deployed in a stilling well in the stream channel.

HOBO Datalogger:  Depth and water temperature are recorded by the HOBO data logger.  Depths are corrected for barometric pressure changes using readings in an additional HOBO datalogger deployed at Marshview Farm.  The HOBO is deployed in a PVC tube, which was attached to ree-bar driven into the stream bed.  The PVC tube has holes drilled to allow adequate water circulation. 

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH LOCATION COORDINATES:  In addition to the decimal degree coordinates given above, locations are also given here in Massachusetts State Plane coordinates.  The stream is called SawMill Br. and is located in Burlington MA.  Small amounts of forest remain (~14% in 1999), much of which is along the stream channel near the gaging site.

STATION       STATE X           STATE Y
YSI-SB            225840             919310

NOTES AND COMMENTS:
No major shifts in the rating curve occured during this time period. Last major shift in the rating curve was in early 2010.  For all discharge estimates after March 2010, a new rating curve was used.  Starting in 2010, discharge measurements are being made with a Sontek FlowTracker.   The new rating curve has an R2 of 0.96 and includes 13 discharge measurements at flows below bankful taken between March 2010 and October  2011 and 2 measurements that were taken at flows above bankful in 2006.

CALCULATIONS:
Discharge rating curve :
Discharge (l/s) = 1380.4*depth^4.4564
where depth is Adj_HOBO_Depth

CORRECTION FACTOR:
Since our Hobo dataloggers are placed in stream reaches with minimal artificial engineering (i.e. v-notch weirs, etc.), there are occasional environmental factors than influence the Hobo depth readings that must be corrected to accurately reflect the true conditions of the stream reach.  These include silt/sand build-up in and around the stilling well or downstream debris dams that artificially elevate the water level of the pool where the hobo is located.  We attempt to correct these changes to provide best estimates of stream depth and corresponding discharge.  Especially with debris dams, we assume a slow build-up of debris and apply an accumulating off-set based on the amount of time betwen site visits.  We note the reasons for all corrections using the "Flag" column in the spreadsheet and the explanations are below.

Flag - NA not available

Maintenance: 

Data complete fo the year.
Periodic with improvement of rating curve, particularly as more high discharge events are incorporated.
Version 01: December 4, 2020, data and metadata updates to comply with importation to DEIMS7 and LTER Data Portal. Used MarcrosExportEML_HTML (working)pie_excel2007_Sep2020.xlsm 9/17/20 1:11 PM for QA/QC to EML 2.1.0.

 

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