Dataset: Ranch Brook Stream Chemistry

Methods

The methods followed in the creation of the dataset, including description of field, laboratory and processing steps, and quality control procedures

Current Methods

• 
  
  

  Water quality analyses were conducted using standard methods in laboratories at the University of Vermont. Major anion concentrations were measured on a Dionex 600DX model ion chromatograph (Dionex Corp., Sunnyvale, CA) with an AS14A anion column. Major cation and silicon concentrations were measured on a Perkin-Elmer Optima 3000DV Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emissions Spectrometer (Perkin-Elmer, Norwalk, CT).

Dataset Fields

Detailed documentation of the fields comprising the dataset, including the type of measurement, units where applicable, and any controlled vocabularies or code lists present in the data

Sampling Equipment

Equipment and software used to collect data, including how that equipment was used.

Current Equipment

• Flow-activated water sampling
  
  

  Flow-activated water sampling using Teledyne ISCO automated samplers began in March 2001 at the gauging stations the Ranch Brook and West Branch watersheds, tributaries of the Little River in Stowe, Vermont. The intake nozzle is a standard ISCO strainer, approximately 20 cm long with multiple holes. It is elevated approximately 0.3 m above the stream bed and approximately 1 m from a vertical retaining wall, oriented downstream, and located in a riffle where suspended sediment is generally though

Site Characteristics

The spatial extent of the dataset site coverage, and descriptions of the spatial extent and context for the data collection

• Site Description

  The study area includes the West Branch (11.7 km2) and Ranch Brook (9.6 km2) watersheds on the eastern slope of Mt Mansfield, in Stowe, Vermont. The basins are adjacent and similar in size, shape, aspect and drainage patterns. Elevation ranges from 415 to 1340 min the West Branch basin and from 335 to 1173 m in the Ranch Brook basin. Additional details on the paired-watershed study design are provided in Wemple et al. 2007.

  Minimum Altitude: 740 meter

  Maximum Altitude: 810 meter