The Cariboo Alpine Mesonet: Sub-hourly hydrometeorological observations of British Columbia's Cariboo Mountains and surrounding area since 2006

Marco A. Hernández-Henríquez, Aseem R. Sharma, Mark P. Taylor, Hadleigh D. Thompson, Stephen J. Déry


Abstract
Abstract. This article presents the development of a sub-hourly database of hydrometeorological conditions collected in British Columbia's Cariboo Mountains and surrounding area extending from 2006 to present. The Cariboo Alpine Mesonet (CAMnet) forms a network of 11 active hydrometeorological stations positioned at strategic locations across mid- to high elevations of the Cariboo Mountains. This mountain range spans 44,150 km2 forming the northern extension of the Columbia Mountains. Deep fjord lakes along with old-growth redcedar and hemlock forests reside in the lower valleys, montane forests of Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine and subalpine fir permeate the mid-elevations while alpine tundra, glaciers and several large icefields cover the higher elevations. The automatic weather stations typically measure air and soil temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and snow depth at 15 minute intervals. Additional measurements at some stations include shortwave and longwave radiation, near-surface air, skin, snow or water temperature, and soil moisture among others. Details on deployment sites, the instrumentation used and its precision, the collection and quality control process are provided. Instructions on how to access the database at Zenodo, an online public data repository, are also furnished (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1195043). Information on some of the challenges and opportunities encountered in maintaining continuous and homogeneous time series of hydrometeorological variables and remote field sites is provided. The paper also summarizes ongoing plans to expand CAMnet to better monitor atmospheric conditions in BC's mountainous terrain, efforts to push data online in (near)real-time, availability of ancillary data, and lessons learned thus far in developing this mesoscale network of hydrometeorological stations in the data-sparse Cariboo Mountains.
Cite:
Marco A. Hernández-Henríquez, Aseem R. Sharma, Mark P. Taylor, Hadleigh D. Thompson, and Stephen J. Déry. 2018. The Cariboo Alpine Mesonet: Sub-hourly hydrometeorological observations of British Columbia's Cariboo Mountains and surrounding area since 2006.
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