Submitted to: Water Resources Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 7, 2011
Publication Date: August 20, 2011
Citation: Buda, A.R., Feyereisen, G.W., Veith, T.L., Folmar, G.J., Bryant, R.B., Church, C., Schmidt, J.P., Dell, C.J., Kleinman, P.J.A. 2011. U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Mahantango Creek Watershed, Pennsylvania, United States: long-term stream discharge database. Water Resources Research. 47. DOI: 10.1029/2010WR010059. Interpretive Summary: The Mahantango Creek Watershed, monitored since 1967 by USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit at University Park, Pennsylvania, is a 420 km**2 subwatershed of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Stream discharge from this watershed is representative of the surrounding physiographic region and, when available within a long-term record, provides valuable baseline information about water movement and timing for watersheds within the physiographic region. Nearly 40 years of stream flow data have been quality controlled, documented, and summarized in this manuscript and the accompanying database. Discussion of these data includes stream discharge collection methods and time periods and provides a review of studies that have used this data. This report is one in a series of four that document and describe the long-term Mahantango Creek Watershed data archived in the USDA-ARS – STEWARDS Watershed Data System (http://arsagsoftware.ars.usda.gov/stewards/) in response to the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Project and to the desire to facilitate scientifically-sound use and interpretation of these data.
Technical Abstract: A long-term streamflow discharge database has been developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit (PSWMRU) to support intensive hydrologic and water quality research within WE-38, a 7.3 km**2 experimental watershed located in east-central Pennsylvania. Daily streamflow discharge data were collected at WE-38 from 1968-2007, producing a 40-year record of streamflow. Data are available electronically on the USDA-ARS STEWARDS (Sustaining the Earth’s Watersheds, Agricultural Research Data System) website (http://arsagsoftware.ars.usda.gov/stewards/).