Data Resources

Data collected for the Hydrologic Observatory will build upon a rich set of existing hydrologic data and environmental research projects, including the following:

Climate

SNOTEL Network: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) installs, operates, and maintains this network of automated sites to collect snowpack and related climatic data (SNOTEL is an abbreviation for SNOwpack TELemetry). There is a network of SNOTEL sites in the Cascades along the divide between the Deschutes and the Willamette.

PRISM Climate Maps: The Spatial Climate Analysis Service (SCAS) at Oregon State University (OSU) creates continuous, digital coverages of precipitation, temperature, and other climate elements using a model called PRISM. These include coverages of averages for 1970-2000.

Oregon Climate Service: OCS maintains climate data for the state including records from weather stations in the Willamette and Deschutes Basins.

Hydrology

Stream Gages

USGS Gaging: The USGS website has realtime data to an extensive gage network in the Willamette and Deschutes.

USACE: Water Reports and Gage Information

NOAA National Weather Service Gages: Includes clickable map to navigate to real time data.

Oregon Water Resources Department: Navigate to historical gage information for the Descutes and the Willamette. This website includes USGS gage data and other non-WRD operated stations.

Focused Hydrologic Studies

USGS-NAWQA Willamette Basin Study: The Willamette is a USGS NAWQA site. These data will form the water quality underpinning of the PNW HO work.

USGS - North Santiam Suspended Sediment and Turbidity Study: A nested network of 8 monitoring stations on the North Santiam, a tributary of the Willamette River and the water supply source for the City of Salem.

Water Quality Data

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Laboratory Analytical Storage and Retrieval Database: Water quality monitoring data for sites throughout Oregon.

General Watershed Information

EPA Surf Your Watershed: The EPA's Surf Your Watershed includes broad environmental information for the two watersheds.

Geology/Geophysics

PNSN - Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, based at the University of Washington.

GIS Data

Bureau of Land Management, Oregon and Washington GIS Website -- This site contains many GIS resources including downloadable base data layers.

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Basin: Data layers compiled in support of a Environmental Impact Statement for managment of "eastside" forests. Includes coverage of the Deschutes basin.

Oregon Geospatial Data Clearinghouse -- This site contains many base data layers -- most are in the Oregon Lambert projection.

Northwest Forest Plan Regional Ecosystem Office -- Operated by the Bureau of Land Management this site has some downloadable data sets including the PNW Hydrography Framework project mentioned above.

Northwest Subbasin Geographic Data Browser: A data browser developed by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council to help with their subbasin planning efforts. This process is part of the development of Biological Opinions under the Endangered Species Act.

Pacific Northwest Ecosystems Research Consortium -- This site contains data layers from The Willamette River Basin Planning Atlas: Trajectories of Environmental and Ecological Change.

PNW Hydrography Framework Clearinghouse -- Multiagency collaboration to create data layers of streams and lakes that include unique identifiers (LLID, longitude latitude identifiers) for each stream segment. Data is currently available for some sub-basins within the Willamette.

Streamnet: GIS data from this cooperative project operated by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. The project provides a variety of kinds of data related to fish resources and maintains the 1:100,000 scale hydrography layer for the Pacific Northwest (includes fish and water quality data layers).

Water Rights Maps: GIS layers from the Oregon Water Resources Department.

Biology

Fire Learning Network: (a laboratory for using prescribed fires to improve forest health and community safety in fire-prone areas), and has a highly effective and integrated multi-agency group working on watershed issues (The Deschutes Resources Conservancy).

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Basin: This USFS project was charged with developing a framework for ecosystem management and a scientific assessment of the ecological, biophysical, social and economic conditions of the Columbia basin. The interior Columbia Basin includes the Deschutes Watershed.

Oregon Transect Ecosystem Research: Known as OTTER, this group organizes remote sensing data for the PNW HO area. Meteorological data and remotely sensed measurements of foliar nitrogen and leaf area index are available and field measurements of seasonal changes in canopy leaf area, photosynthetic capacity, stomatal conductance, foliage biochemistry, litterfall, and other components of plant production are available.

Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research Consortium: The PNWERC is focused on understand the ecological consequences of possible societal decisions. Their website includes downloadable data sets from the The Willamette River Basin Planning Atlas: Trajectories of Environmental and Ecological Change.

Oregon Natural Heritage Program: The Oregon Natural Heritage Program (ORNHP) is a cooperative, interagency effort to identify the plant, animal, and plant community resources of Oregon.

Streamnet: A cooperative information management and dissemination project focused on fisheries and aquatic related data in the Columbia River basin and the Pacific Northwest. The project provides a variety of kinds of data related to fish resources and maintains the 1:100,000 scale hydrography layer for the Pacific Northwest.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Passage Barriers:

Cultural

Willamette Explorer Publications -- Reports on conservation status and planning in the Willamette Basin.