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USGS CLIM-MET Stations

Introduction

The CLIM-MET meteorological stations are implemented under the auspices of the American Drylands Project, which seeks to understand how climate (such as temperature; precipitation; wind direction and strength) and human activities affect geologic processes (such as weathering; erosion; deposition) that modify the landscape.

Description

The CLIM-MET stations are meteorological/geological stations that are designed to function in remote areas for long periods of time without human intervention. These stations monitor surfical processes and automatically record data at regular intervals. Mojave stations have equipment that allows data to be retrieved in real time via a system of radio-telemetry and satellite internet. Data at Canyonlands stations is stored on site and retrieved four times per year. Calibrations are applied and the data are checked for validity in the office and then are stored on this website for current and future analysis by our scientists and cooperators. The surficial processes monitored are determined by current project needs and can be changed as the situation dictates. A station will remain at a site for the period of time necessary to gather the information to support a parent project (months to years). It can then be moved to another site to continue support for the same project, in the same or another manner, or begin support of a new project.

Objectives

1. At ecologically sensitive sites in the Southwest, determine the distribution and types of surficial deposits and the processes responsible for the deposits
2. Contribute to understanding the distribution of vegetation in the Southwest in terms of climatic variables, composition of substrates, and vulnerability to wind erosion
3. Use ground-based studies linked to remote sensing methods to detect and monitor dust sources and plumes, examine vegetation changes at sensitive sites, and distinguish between mineral dust and chemical aerosols and their role in haze generation
4. Provide information and interpretations to federal, state, and local agencies, as well as to Native American governments, for their land-use planning and management of resources

Strategy

Stations monitor certain surficial processes under varying climatic and land-use conditions, then provide that data to the parent project where it, combined with historic and other data, can provide inputs into regional climatic models (RegCMs) that describe how the Southwest will respond to future climatic conditions. The project will develop models that describe how these processes operate under different conditions of climate land use. Meteorological monitoring and repeat photography will support studies of processes and deposits and will provide calibration of regional and sub-regional change-detection mapping of vegetation and eolian deposits using remote-sensing techniques.

Products

1. Data sets of meteorological observations (that help define climatic variability), landscape responses, and hydroclimatology
2. Repeat photography of landscape change
3. Collection of saltating material in traps, monitoring and recording the rate of saltation as it occurs. Meteorological data taken in parallel will help describe how surfaces are depleted and what forces support or impede such saltation
4. Collection of dust samples for many types of studies, including eolian processes, human disturbances in the desert, soil genesis, ecosystem function, and groundwater chemistry

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/info/sw/clim-met/intro.html
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Page Last Modified: Wed 15-Mar-2006 14:40:38 MST