Weather and Climate Monitoring Protocol: Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network and Mid-Atlantic Network

Marshall, Matt; Knight, Paul; Comiskey, Jim

Weather and climate are primary drivers of physical and ecological processes of park resources and therefore critical to park management and visitor experience. For these reasons, weather and climate were identified as a priority vital sign by all National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Networks including the Eastern Rivers and Mountains and Mid-Atlantic networks. The goal of this protocol is to utilize existing weather and climate observing networks, stations, and other existing datasets to monitor and record relevant weather elements (e.g., air temperature and precipitation). The intent is to quantify one of the drivers of network park ecosystems, identify trends in these elements, and provide reliable weather and climate data and summaries. Information will be made available to park natural resource managers and other interested parties in concise written reports and from a single, easy to use Internet-based data portal. The primary monitoring objective is to document current status and long-term trends in air temperature and precipitation at multiple temporal scales (e.g., daily, monthly, seasonal, annual, and decadal) and spatial scales (e.g., individual stations and aggregated stations such as climate divisions) utilizing existing weather and climate monitoring programs and datasets. This document outlines the rationale and methods proposed for monitoring weather and climate in the Eastern Rivers and Mountains and Mid-Atlantic networks. The protocol narrative explains the rationale for monitoring weather and climate and sets forth the specific monitoring objectives. The narrative also discusses the weather elements to be monitored and provides an overview of the personnel and operational requirements to implement weather and climate monitoring and to report findings. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) outlines data management tasks, quality assurance, and delivery of weather and climate data to network staff. Through data processing, analysis, and reporting, weather and climate data will be made available in a standardized format to support long-term ecological monitoring, other research efforts, park resource management, planning, and interpretation programs.

Weather and Climate Monitoring Protocol: Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network and Mid-Atlantic Network

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