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Techniques and Methods 2–B1

Prepared in cooperation with the National Park Service

Weather and Climate Monitoring Protocol, Channel Islands National Park, California

By Kathryn McEachern, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Channel Islands Field Station, Paula Power, Linda Dye, and Rocky Rudolph, National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (2.5 MB)Introduction

Weather and climate are strong drivers of population dynamics, plant and animal spatial distributions, community interactions, and ecosystem states. Information on local weather and climate is crucial in interpreting trends and patterns in the natural environment for resource management, research, and visitor enjoyment. This document describes the weather and climate monitoring program at the Channel Islands National Park (fig. 1), initiated in the 1990s. Manual and automated stations, which continue to evolve as technology changes, are being used for this program. The document reviews the history of weather data collection on each of the five Channel Islands National Park islands, presents program administrative structure, and provides an overview of procedures for data collection, archival, retrieval, and reporting. This program overview is accompanied by the “Channel Islands National Park Remote Automated Weather Station Field Handbook” and the “Channel Islands National Park Ranger Weather Station Field Handbook.” These Handbooks are maintained separately at the Channel Island National Park as “live documents” that are updated as needed to provide a current working manual of weather and climate monitoring procedures. They are available on request from the Weather Program Manager (Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura, CA 93001; 805.658.5700). The two Field Handbooks describe in detail protocols for managing the four remote automated weather stations (RAWS) and the seven manual Ranger Weather Stations on the islands, including standard operating procedures for equipment maintenance and calibration; manufacturer operating manuals; data retrieval and archiving; metada collection and archival; and local, agency, and vendor contracts.

For additional information contact:
For more information concerning the research in this report,
contact the Western Ecological Researach Center
3020 University Drive East,
Modoc Hall
Sacramento, California 95619
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/

Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.


Suggested citation:

McEachern, Kathryn; Power, Paula; Dye, Linda; and Rudolph, Rocky, 2008, Weather and climate monitoring protocol, Channel Islands National Park, California: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 2–B1, 16 p.



Contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Island Weather stations

3.0 Weather Station Maintenance and Diagnostics

4.0 Weather and Climate Monitoring Program Tasks and Roles

5.0 Reporting

6.0 Training Requirements

7.0 Channel Islands National Park Weather Data Websites

8.0 Acknowledgments

9.0 References


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