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? 5091 runoff measuring stations Historical dataset? ( ) URL: 57 runoff measuring stations Runoff data continuously updated? More data variables than just runoff Data exploration tool URL: rims.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 Spatial coverage: Pan Arctic Major basins Watersheds URL: rims.unh.edu

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

Arctic Discharge Observations Long time series - temporal distribution

Arctic Discharge Observations Long time series – stations Time period:

Arctic Discharge Observations Long time series – stations Time period:

Arctic Discharge Observations Long time series – stations Time period:

Arctic Discharge Observations Long time series – stations Time period:

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