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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2006

  • Title: Preliminary Water Budget for Prospect Hill Tract
  • Primary Author: Emery Boose (Harvard Forest)
  • Additional Authors: Julian Hadley (Harvard Forest); Safina Singh (Mount Holyoke College)
  • Abstract:

    Long-term hydrological measurements were initiated in spring 2005 on two small, forested watersheds in the Prospect Hill Tract. The combination of hydrological, meteorological, and eddy flux data from this tract provides a rare opportunity to study the hydrological cycle of such watersheds. A pilot project last summer estimated water budgets by integrating precipitation data from the Fisher meteorological station, evapotranspiration data from the Hemlock and Little Prospect Hill eddy flux towers, stream discharge data from the Nelson and Bigelow gages, and ground water data from wells installed by Walter Lyford. Results showed the expected seasonal decline in system water storage from late spring through early summer in both the Nelson and Upper Bigelow watersheds (Figure 1). The relative loss of water to evapotranspiration increased significantly in both watersheds after leaf-out in early June. Nelson watershed, with its much higher percentage of wetland area (60% vs. 10%), retained significantly more water during this period than Upper Bigelow. In all cases the change in water storage calculated from precipitation, evapotranspiration, and stream discharge closely matched the estimated change in ground water storage.





    In the future we plan to refine and extend these measurements and create a system for real-time data collection, analysis, and display on the Harvard Forest web page. New measurements will include water content of snow pack and more extensive sampling of ground water level and movement. Software will be created for collection, analysis, and modeling of data in real time via a wireless network. The resulting system will provide frequent and automated sampling of all the major terms in the water budget. It will also serve as a model for developing and testing cyberinfrastructure tools for managing real-time data streams from sensor networks.


  • Research Category: Forest-Atmosphere Exchange
    Watershed Ecology