Quality Assurance Report - Loch Vale Watershed, 1999-2002

Product Type: Open-file Report

Year: 2004

Author(s): Botte, J.A., and J. Baron

Suggested Citation:
Botte, J.A., and J. Baron. 2004. Quality Assurance Report - Loch Vale Watershed, 1999-2002: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1306. 17 p.

Abstract

The National Park Service initiated the Loch Vale Watershed (LVWS) project in 1980 with funding from the Aquatic Effects Research Program of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program. Long-term ecological research and monitoring address watershed-scale ecosystem processes, particularly as they respond to atmospheric deposition and climate variability. Monitoring of meteorological, hydrologic, precipitation chemistry, and surface water quality parameters enable us to use long-term trends to distinguish natural from human-caused disturbances. Research into snow distribution, hydrologic flowpaths, vegetation responses to N deposition, isotopic transformations of N by forest and soil processes, trace metals, and aquatic ecological responses to disturbance enable us to understand processes that influence high elevation ecosystems.