Overview & Applicability
Significant amounts of stream temperature data have been collected during the last two decades, but strategic coordination of these collection efforts within and among agencies has been lacking. The NorWeST project has aggregated steam temperature data from the Northwestern U.S. into a publicly available database and also uses the data to develop stream temperature models. The models are used to create a consistent set of historic and future temperature scenarios for all 500,000 stream kilometers across the project area (ID, MT, WY, OR, WA).
Temperature data and modeled climate scenarios have been developed for most streams in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Stream temperature data organization and model development will be ongoing for Montana and Wyoming through 2015.Regular project timeline updates are posted to the NorWeST website, along with a map showing data processing status. At project completion, consistent sets of stream temperature-climate scenarios will exist for 52 national forests.
A primary goal of this project is to provide an accurate assessment and description of historical and future stream temperatures and thermal habitat distributions for sensitive aquatic species. This could enable planning and monitoring efforts to be undertaken more efficiently and with greater confidence across the Northwest U.S.
Stream Temperatures: NorWeST can help visualize how stream temperatures have changed over time, as in this stream temperature scenario map
History
This project was funded by the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative and involved development of an integrated regional database compiled from more than 60 resource agencies and consisting of >45,000,000 hourly temperature recordings at >15,000 unique stream sites. The effort was led by USFS scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station Boise Aquatics Lab with collaborators from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Trout Unlimited, NOAA, and USGS.
Inputs and outputs
Input
Users only need to know the geographic locations where they require data. NorWeST data processing units typically consist of one or more USGS HUC3s (6-digit HUCs). See more on HUCs.
Output
Two main outputs are available:
- Stream temperature data summaries. These are available as downloadable Excel spreadsheets. Information on the locations of the stream temperature measurements are also available through online maps and downloadable geospatial data.
- Modeled stream temperatures for historic and future climate scenarios for all streams in the completed river basins. These are available as online maps and as downloadable shapefiles for display in ArcMap. For each climate scenario, users can also see information on the accuracy of temperature model results.
Restrictions and limitations
Information on assumptions and procedures are available on the NorWeST website, including geospatial metadata, data processing procedures, and modeling procedures for climate scenarios. Metadata for basic stream temperature datasets are not available online.
Accessing the tool and additional information
- Additional documentation and information is available on the NorWeST website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/AWAE/projects/NorWeST.html. - See a project description in the most recent Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative newsletter: http://greatnorthernlcc.org/features/streamtemp-database.
- Contact Dan Isaak with questions
Relevant publications include
- Stream isotherm shifts from climate change and implications for distributions of ectothermic organisms http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/42640
- Flow regime, temperature, and biotic interactions drive differential declines of trout species under climate change [includes Supporting Information] http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/38692
- Climate change, forests, fire, water, and fish: Building resilient landscapes, streams, and managers. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/41932
- Climate change effects on stream and river temperatures across the northwest U.S. from 1980-2009 and implications for salmonid fishes. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/39783
- The past as prelude to the future for understanding 21st-Century climate effects on Rocky Mountain trout. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/42330