Penobscot Temperature/SSN Modeling/EPA QAQC Tool Updates
Citation:
Detenbeck, N. Penobscot Temperature/SSN Modeling/EPA QAQC Tool Updates. Maine Water Temperature Working Group Meeting, Augusta, ME, May 22, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation is for the bi-annual meeting of the Maine Temperature Monitoring Workgroup to update group members on the status of development of a fine-resolution stream temperature for the Penobscot watershed in Maine using data collected by members of the workgroup stored in their common EcoSheds database. Application of existing and future tools for fine-resolution spatial stream network (SSN) temperature models will be described and demonstrated. Fine resolution models are needed to answer management questions concerning best practices for streamside forested riparian zones, e.g., how wide and long should forested buffers be to protect stream thermal regimes?
Description:
We are currently developing a fine-resolution spatial stream network (SSN) model for the Penobscot River Basin in Maine using continuous temperature time series collected by members of the Maine Temperature Working Group. Stations for 455 sites have been snapped to the NHDPlusHR (high resolution) stream network using the USGS Hydrography Addressing Tool (HydroAdd; https://hydromaintenance.nationalmap.gov/hydro-add/split/login). Of the original 457 sites, only two had to be dropped due to inaccurate station location information (> 60 meters from a stream). Landscape-level attributes for use in the model include a combination of variables used for the medium resolution New England SSN temperature model (Detenbeck et al. 2016) and the fine-resolution SSN temperature model for the Meduxnekeag (Figary et al. 2021) developed in cooperation with the Houlton Band of the Maliseets. These attributes have been summarized at site, catchment, riparian buffer, or watershed scale as appropriate and QAQC reviews will be complete by the end of May prior to their use. Shade attributes for points spaced at 50 meter intervals along NHDPlusv2HR stream reaches were calculated using a shade preprocessor program and RShade program installed on EPA’s cloud Data Management and Analytics Program (DMAP) platform, and then aggregated to buffer lengths extending various distances or time travel estimates upstream. Improved techniques for generating high resolution shade estimates are helping us to answer questions in Pacific Northwest studies concerning the implications of different vegetation management strategies for riparian buffers on fish-bearing and fishless streams under current and future climate scenarios. QAQC review of continuous temperature monitoring data will be started in May using R/SAS code for batch processing, followed by review in the new EPA cloud-based CONTDATAQCSUMVIZ application (https://dmap-contdataqcsumviz.app.cloud.gov/) to examine problematical portions of the record. EPA ORD and Region 3 recently were awarded additional funding to develop further SSN model pre-processing, model development, and model application tools in the cloud. While the latter effort will be focused on improving efficiency of development of high-resolution stream temperature models for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the tools developed will benefit parallel efforts in other regions such as New England.
URLs/Downloads:
https://www.maine.gov/ifw/blogs/mdifw-blog/maine-stream-temperature-monitoring-and-modelling-network