Mean daily streamflow discharge at sites in Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

• Main Author: United States Geological Survey
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity
• Subjects: stream characteristics; Arctic; Yukon; Fairbanks; Anchorage; Indian; Marguerite; Lowe; Taku; Steele; Gulch; McCarthy; Stikine; Meade; Anchor Point; Dry Bay; Crooked Creek; Tyee; Phelan; glacier; Ketchikan; Kodiak; Kuskokwim; Moose; Skagway; Tidewater; Yakutat; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5063/F1CN726K

These files include mean daily streamflow discharge (cubic feet per second) at streamflow gauging stations across Alaska. Data were collected by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from the National Water Information Service (NWIS). Information is provided for 80 stations throughout Alaska, all which have associated streamflow discharge data. Information on the station site, data description, and general metadata are included in the metadata attribute set. Each streamflow gauging station is identified by an 8-digit number and each station has a separate data file identified by the site number (site_no). Additional information on gauging stations including site name, lat/long, are included in the site_info.csv file. All streamflow information was collected from USGS streamflow gauging systems. These systems record the elevation of the water in the stream and then convert the water elevation (i.e. stage (ft)) to streamflow (i.e. discharge (ft^3)), using an established curve relationship that relates stage and discharge. The stream river stage is measured to the closest 0.01 inches, by using floats inside a stilling well, by the use of pressure transducers that measure how much pressure is required to a push a gas bubble through a tube (related to the depth of water), or with radar. Most USGS streamgauges record the stage level every 15 minutes, and that data are stored in an electronic data recorder, which is then transfered to USGS. The data was downloaded from USGS via the USGS R package ‘dataRetrieval’. Included in this data package is the R script, ‘USGS_Streamflow_Data_Download.R’, that was used to download this data. This package can be used to download similar data from the USGS data repository.