Stream Temperature Inventory and Mapper

Abstract:

Climate change is expected to alter stream temperature and flow regimes over the coming decades, and in turn influence distributions of aquatic species in those freshwater ecosystems. Effects of climate change on streams are expected to vary both spatially and temporally and will also be influenced by landscape factors such as geographic setting. To better account for these changes,this project was funded to inventory, compile, and collect both short- and long-term stream temperature data across the Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC) region for managers to gain an understanding of baseline conditions, historic trends, and future projections. The results will provide opportunities to coordinate stream monitoring efforts and provide basic information to plan for and assess the effects of climate change on streams. This project worked towards development of a coordinated, multi-agency regional stream temperature framework and database for New England, Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes States by:

1. Compiling metadata about existing stream temperature monitoring locations
2. Developing a web-based decision support mapper to display, integrate, and share information
3. Building a community of contacts with interest in this effort
4. Developing data portal capabilities that integrate stream temperature data from several sources.

This project is funded by the Northeast Climate Science Center, which maintains separate project pages for each phase of the project, based on the fiscal year cycle. The 2012-funded project is A Stream Temperature Inventory Network and Decision Support Metadata Mapper - Evaluating the Resources to Understanding Climate Change Effects on Streams in New England and the Great Lakes States. The 2013-funded project is NorEaST – Stream Temperature Web Portal Demonstration and Application.

Other Investigators:

• Armstrong, David
• McKenna, James

Other Organizations:

Project Status:

This project is complete. The project team joined with the team for the related project "Bringing people, data, and models together – addressing impacts of climate change on stream temperature" to coordinate activities and share data. Together, the teams are collecting stream data from across the Northeast-Midwest region. Representatives from 20 states have been contacted so far. A web-based decision support mapper (NorEaST) is in development (beta) now.

Funding:

NALCC funding: $0

Northeast Climate Science Center funding: $165,000

Links to Products:

Tools

NorEast Stream Temperature Mapper

Presentations

Metadata Mapper Project:

• Dec 9th - 12, 2012 - Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Oral Presentation, Yin-Phan Tsang,  “A Stream Temperature Inventory Network and Decision Support Metadata Mapper for North East U.S.”

• March 14th, 2013 - North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC) meeting - Integrating Stream Science Efforts across the North Atlantic and Appalachian LCC Regions, Jana Stewart, "Stream Temperature Inventory Mapper and Data Portal"

• Sept 9th - 12, 2013 - American Fisheries Society, Oral Presentation, Jana Stewart (presented by Yin-Phan Tsang),  "A Stream Temperature Inventory Network and Decision Support Metadata Mapper for North East U.S. "

NorEaST Web Portal Project

• Dec 9, 2013: Presented overview of NorEaST to Northeast stakeholders as part of a Webinar organized by EPA and TetraTech (Presenter: Jana Stewart);

• January 2014: Webinar with NY DEC to provide overview of NorEaST (Presenter: Jim McKenna);

• February 7, 2014: NY AFS meeting for GAP stakeholders meeting to provide overview of NorEaST web portal (Presenter: Jim McKenna)

• March 26, 2014: New England Association of Environmental Biologists (NEAB) given as part of Stream Temperature session (Presenter: Dave Armstrong, USGS)

• May 1, 2014: Stream Temperature Data and Modeling Meeting II hosted by EPA Region I, USFWS, North Atlantic LCC, USGS NECSC, and USGS Conte Lab, Hadley, Mass,  Jana Stewart, "Stream Temperature Inventory Mapper and Data Portal"

• October 24, 2014: National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation, Washington, D.C. "NorEaST: A stream temperature web portal for evaluating climate-change effects on streams of the USGS Northeast Climate Science Center region."