Data Dictionary – Satus/Toppenish Stream Temperature Climate Change Scenario Results
Publication Date:
December 15, 2011
Format:
Access 2007 Database
Description:
This database contains the set of results from stream temperature simulations of the Satus and Toppenish watersheds (in the Yakima Basin) under current and future climate scenarios.  For more information on this study, please see the report “Modeling Water Temperature in the Satus and Toppenish Watersheds of the Yakima River Basin in Washington, USA under Future Climate Scenarios”.  (** Note this report is currently under review for publication and we anticipate that it will be available soon.  In the meantime, the study abstract is provided below. **)
Study Abstract:
The goal of this study was to support a larger assessment of the potential effects of climate change on  select natural, social, and economic resources in the Yakima River Basin.  One of the objectives of the larger assessment was to project climate change impacts on anadromous steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss).  Stream temperature is an important environmental variable for the freshwater stages of steelhead.  For this study, we developed water temperature models for the Satus and Toppenish Watersheds, two of the key stronghold areas for steelhead in the Yakima River Basin.  We constructed the models with the Stream Network Temperature Model (SNTEMP), a mechanistic approach to simulate water temperature in a stream network.  The models were calibrated with data for the April 15, 2008 to September 30, 2008 period and validated with data for the April 15, 2009 to September 30, 2009 period using historic measurements of stream temperature and discharge provided by the Yakama Nation Fisheries Resource Management Program.  Once validated, the models were run to simulate conditions during the spring and summer seasons over a baseline period (1981-2005) and two future climate scenarios with increased air temperature of 1°C and 2°C.  The models simulated daily mean and maximum water temperatures at sites throughout the two watersheds under the baseline and future climate scenarios.  
Contact:
Please contact David Graves, The Columbia River InterTribal Fish Commission with any questions at (503) 238-0667, or email: grad@critfc.org
Acknowledgements:
This project was supported by funding from the Bonneville Power Administration.  Special thanks to Tim Ressigue at the Yakama Nation Fisheries Resource Management program in Toppenish, WA for providing water temperature and discharge data for use in the models.

Tables and Queries:
Tables contained in this database are the model water temperature and discharge outputs at study nodes in the Satus and Toppenish Watersheds under current and future scenarios.  Data are delivered as daily statistics over a 25-year period.  The baseline period corresponds to 1981-2005, the +1 climate change scenario period reflects a 1 °C annual increase in air temperature from the baseline period and roughly corresponds to projections for the early 21st century, and the +2 climate change scenario reflects a 2 °C annual air temperature increase from the baseline period and roughly corresponds to projections for the middle 21st century.  Input climate data for all scenarios match those used in USGS studies in the Yakima River Basin, of which this effort is a part of.  Queries are also included to summarize these results by month and date.
Tables include
SatusRawTempResults_Baseline: Raw simulation results from the Satus model, baseline scenario
SatusRawTempResults_PlusOne: Raw simulation results from the Satus model, +1  scenario
SatusRawTempResults_PlusTwo: Raw simulation results from the Satus model, +2  scenario
ToppRawTempResults_Baseline: Raw simulation results from the Toppenish model, baseline scenario
ToppRawTempResults_PlusOne: Raw simulation results from the Toppenish model, +1  scenario
ToppRawTempResults_PlusTwo: Raw simulation results from the Toppenish model, +2  scenario
Satus_CompareFutureOutputatObs: Satus model results, compiled by site for all scenarios
Topp_CompareFutureOutputatObs: Toppenish model results, compiled by site for all scenarios
NodeList: List and description of study nodes
Queries include
SatusFutureOutputAveragesbyMonth: Compiled results from the Satus model, summarized by calendar month
SatusFutureOutputAveragesbyDate: Compiled results from the Satus model, summarized by calendar date
ToppFutureOutputAveragesbyMonth: Compiled results from the Satus model, summarized by calendar month
ToppFutureOutputAveragesbyDate: Compiled results from the Satus model, summarized by calendar date
Field Definitions:
Each table and query contains some of the following fields:
Node Description: Model description of the node, used as a key to link model results to node information in the NodeList table
Distance or RiverKM: Distance of node upstream from the bottom of the watershed (for the Satus model, distances are calcuated upstream from the mouth of Satus Creek, which is also the downstream extent of the model.  For the Toppenish model, distances are calculated upstream from the mouth of Toppenish Creek, but the model only extends downstream to river km 49)
Year: Calendar year of record (note: for +1 and +2 scenarios, climatic data were adjusted)
Day: Calendar date of record
Julian Date: Julian date of record
Q: Mean discharge at node (cubic meters per second)
Q0: Mean discharge, baseline scenario
Q1: Mean discharge, +1 scenario
Q2: Mean discharge, +2 scenario
AvgTemp: Mean temperature at node(°C)
AT or AT0: Mean discharge, baseline scenario
AT1: Mean discharge, +1 scenario
AT2: Mean discharge, +2 scenario
MaxTemp: Maximum daily temperature at node (°C)
MT or MT0: Maximum discharge, baseline scenario
MT1: Maximum discharge, +1 scenario
MT2: Maximum discharge, +2 scenario
DateP:  Date of record (alternate format)
DateX: Date of record (alternate format)
Month: Abbreviated calendar month of record (note: for April, statistics correspond only to April 15-30)
Model: Satus or Toppenish model
Seque: Sequence of node in model (from headwaters to terminus)
NodeID: AlternateID used to describe node for internal purposes
Location: Description of the location of the node 
Latitude: Latitude of the node (datum NAD83)
Longitude: Longitude of the node (datum NAD83)