Northwestern Regional Temperature Data Analysis

This page is under development to integrate the water temperature distributions with fish distributions. We are developing tools for synthesizing environmental and biological data. Temperature profiles for NW regional streams are developed in a systematic manner and applied to fish presence. Daily water temperatures for the mainstem of the Columbia and Snake rivers are used directly where daily fish distributions are also known. Annual temperature profile parameters are related to surveyed presence/absence information for other streams.

Summary of the data location, number of points and parameter values for each fit as well as plots of temperatures across the year with fitted curves and time series of the data. Data listed by site name.

Mainstem data used to assess thermal conditions and lifestage-particular-thermal compliance to various thermal standards is based on USGS, ACOE, PSMFC and BPA data available from CBR's DART pages

1. Snake and Columbia River temperature conditions and compliance with published standards.
        ********** See Temperature Conditions and Compliance Selection to view these results. **********
   The colors on the map represent reported temperatures as the sites shown with a star. The sites reporting change from day to day throughout the year. For the prototype of compliance to temperature standards determined for chinook salmon during migration. Temperatures in this guideline are based on stringent temperature preferences as reported in "Scientific Issues Relating to Temperature Criteria for Salmon, Trout, and Char Native to the Pacific Northwest" August 1, 2001 Available from EPA Region10 Water Quality Criteria Guidance project web site. Smoltification standard for smolting chinook is for temperatures to be between 0-15 degrees C. For adults, the standard is 0-22 degrees C. On these maps, the color indicates whether the river temperatures are within the range, within 2 degrees of the range, or more than two degrees out of range. A river is colored if both smolt presence AND temperatures are reported at a location. The compliance coloring is carried downstream until fish presence and temperatures suggest a change. The stars indicate the locations where compliance is evaluated. In cases where temperature recording and fish presence do not coincide, a temperature location is permitted to be upstream 10 km (arbitrary). Other standards are being applied as a part of our ongoing research.
   
   
2. Regional maps depicting the spatial distribution of parameters.

   The lightest yellow colors represent the lowest values of the range printed in the title. The reddest colors represent the greatest values.

   Sine fit: Magnitude  Sine fit: Mean  Sine fit Phase 

   Hiatus fit: Magnitude   Hiatus fit: Mean  Hiatus fit: Phase  Hiatus fit: Begin  Hiatus fit: End  Hiatus fit: Dampening 

   
   
   
3. Locations of some temperature sites were found using GIS techniques. Streamnet locations. Storet sites also available.

1. Relationship of the parameters to each other. Distribution of the parameters involved in the two fits.
   • Correlations of the parameters for the 3 parameter sine model. Note that the linear fit through the parameter points plotted in each panel may or not be appropriate. The upper number on each panel depicts the "R-squared" and the lower number depicts the "p-value".
   • Correlations of the parameters for 6 parameter hiatus model. Note that the linear fit through the parameter points plotted in each panel may or not be appropriate. The upper number on each panel depicts the "R-squared" and the lower number depicts the "p-value".
2. Relationship of the Hiatus dampening parameter to the magnitude of flow for sites where both flow and temperatures are available. Not all of the sites have flow data and not all of the hiatus fits are "meaningful"(plotted with "0"). Simply because there is a mathematical solution through the data does not guarantee that this is a mechanism producing an observable hiatus in the stream temperatures. For locations where there is an observable hiatus fit and an increase in the flows during the period of the year between "Begin" and "End", the slope of the regression line of the Q-ratio on the hiatus/dampening parameter ("1" points) is not significant but the intercept is. If this relationship can be generalized then the mean value of the hiatus/dampening parameter is independent of the magnitude of the Q-ratio. Q-ratio is defined as a ratio: (mean flow between the "Begin" and "End" days ) / (mean flow during other days of the year). In other words, the fitting algorithm has determined when the hiatus period is happening.
3. Correlation of temperature parameters with anadromous fish presence.

Temperature data for Northwest regional sites with 50 or more daily mean temperatures is analyzed here. The region has two large databases from which these temperatures can be obtained. The first is the EPA's Storet site that provides individual per-HUC spreadsheets of data. The second is the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission's StreamNet site that provides a relational database of regional temperatures. Smaller databases are kept in regional offices of private and public resource managers and are not included due to their extreme dispersion.

Attempts were made to fit a sinusoidal, 3 parameter curve through the points and a 6 parameter curve through the points. The non-linear solver in Splus2000 was used for this purpose. The intention of the 6 parameter model was to allow for spring-time snowmelt effects on the temperature profile to be recognized.

• White paper on the 3 and 6 parameter Temperature fitting methods

Using GIS software and Dynamic Segmentation modeling, the spatial locations of most missing sites are determined from the position of the mouth of the river and the distance upstream of the gauge.

Mainstem temperature conditions maps were created by querying DART (Cbr data site) for temperatures from various locations in the region. The temperatures along the river were assumed to correspond to the temperatures at the specific locations which were mapped in turn from upstream to downstream and the existing temperature conditions were assumed to apply from the that point downstream to the mouth of the river or until another location on the same river provided different information.

• CBR's DART web site
• US EPA's STORET web site
• PSMFC's StreamNet web site