NorWeST stream temperature data summaries for the western U.S.

NorWeST is an interagency stream temperature database and model for the western United States containing data from over 20,000 unique stream locations. Temperature observations were solicited from state, federal, tribal, private, and municipal resource organizations and processed using a custom cleaning script developed by Gwynne Chandler. Summaries of daily, weekly, and monthly means, minima, and maxima are provided for observation years. The data summaries and location information are available in user-friendly file formats that include: 1) a map (PDF) depicting the locations of in-stream thermographs (temperature sensors) for each processing unit, 2) a GIS shapefile (SHP) containing the location of these sensors for each processing unit, and 3) a tabular file (XLSX) containing observed temperature database summaries for data generally ranging from 1993 to 2015, dependent on the processing unit. Each point shapefile extent corresponds to NorWeST processing units, which generally relate to 6 digit (3rd code) hydrologic unit codes (HUCs). The tabular data can be joined to the observation point shapefile using the ID field OBSPRED_ID. The NorWeST NHDPlusV1 processing units include: Salmon, Clearwater, Spokoot, Missouri Headwaters, Snake-Bear, MidSnake, MidColumbia, Oregon Coast, South-Central Oregon, Upper Columbia-Yakima, Washington Coast, Upper Yellowstone-Bighorn, Upper Missouri-Marias, and Upper Green-North Platte. The NorWeST NHDPlusV2 processing units include: Lahontan Basin, Northern California-Coastal Klamath, Utah, Coastal California, Central California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Black Hills.
These data have many potential uses including the assessment of stream temperature regimes, development of climate scenarios, understanding habitat and climate effects on stream temperatures, describing the thermal ecology of aquatic species, and conducting climate vulnerability assessments.
For more information on the NorWeST stream temperature project see: https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/boise/AWAE/projects/NorWeST.html This data publication originally became available via the FS Research Data Archive on 11/17/2016. On 7/27/2022 the metadata was updated to correct old URLs.