Arctic Discharge Observations The Arctic RIMS and the

Arctic Discharge Observations The Arctic RIMS and the R-Arctic Net datasets Åsa Rennermalm Princeton University

Arctic Discharge Observations • Arctic-RIMS : Arctic – Regional, Integrated Hydrological Monitoring System • R-Arctic Net : Regional, Hydrometeorological Data Network for the pan-Arctic Region • Made available by the Water Systems Analysis Group at University of New Hampshire

Arctic Discharge Observations • What characterize the discharge data provided by Arctic-RIMS and R-Arctic Net? – Spatial distribution of runoff measuring stations – Temporal distribution of runoff measuring stations

Arctic Discharge Observations • What are the differences between Arctic-RIMS and R-Arctic Net? 57 runoff measuring stations 5091 runoff measuring stations Runoff data continuously updated? Historical dataset? (1871 -2001) More data variables than just runoff Data exploration tool URL: rims. unh. edu URL: www. r-arcticnet. sr. unh. edu

Arctic Discharge Observations • Arctic RIMS data exploration tool Data types: Permafrost, Precipitation, Temperature, Runoff (modeled and measured) and more. . Visualization: Gridded data Time series of point data Animations of gridded data over time Temporal resolution: Daily, monthly, annual, climatology URL: rims. unh. edu Spatial coverage: Pan Arctic Major basins Watersheds

Arctic Discharge Observations • Data set characteristics – Spatial distribution (all geo-referenced stations)

Arctic Discharge Observations • Data set characteristics – Time series length

Arctic Discharge Observations • Long time series - important for studying change Long runoff time series • Longer than 24 years • No more than 25% missing data in any season • Last measurement between 19852001

Arctic Discharge Observations • Long time series - temporal distribution

Arctic Discharge Observations • Long time series – 1960 -1985 1198 stations Time period: 1960 1980 2000

Arctic Discharge Observations • Long time series – 1965 -1990 902 stations Time period: 1960 1980 2000

Arctic Discharge Observations • Long time series – 1970 -1995 610 stations Time period: 1960 1980 2000

Arctic Discharge Observations • Long time series – 1975 -2000 280 stations Time period: 1960 1980 2000

Arctic Discharge Observations Conclusions • Arctic RIMS extends until present day • R-Arctic Net greater spatial and temporal distribution Questions • Are there more recent data from the R-Arctic Net stations? • What is the cause of the late 20 th century drop in number of stations? – Station closure? – Unreported data?

Arctic Discharge Observations • Geo-referencing and calculation of unit discharge require information about: – – – Latitude Longitude Discharge area • 802 of the 5091 R-Arctic Net stations has no information about either latitude, longitude or discharge area • How valuable are these stations? • What characterize them?

Arctic Discharge Observations • Data set characteristics Stations with no information about latitude, longitude or discharge area

Arctic Discharge Observations • Data set characteristics Stations with no information about latitude, longitude or discharge area

Arctic Discharge Observations • Data set characteristics Stations with no information about latitude, longitude or discharge area

Arctic Discharge Observations Summary • The stations with no information about latitude, longitude or discharge area have runoff time series characterized by being short. • About 50 of the stations with long time series have less than 25% missing data.

Arctic Discharge Observations • Drainage area size