AIMS Continuous Water Quality at Youngmeyer Outlet (AIMS_YMR_approach1_EXOS_V1.0)

This resource includes information on the water quality time series data collected using the YSI EXO2 multi-parameter water quality sondes from Youngmeyer Ranch. Youngmeyer Ranch is located in Elk County, KS (outlet location: 37.56442, -96.49106) and managed by Witchita State University and owned by the Youngmeyer Trust. The ranch is roughly 1902 ha of grassland prairie used predominantly for cattle grazing and is burned every 1-2 years. A tributary of the Elk River, specifically the south branch of the Elk River headwaters, elevation at Youngmeyer ranges from 373-488 m with mean annual temperature of 13.7°C and mean annual precipitation of 979mm. This site is geologically constructed of Permian age limestone and shale with layers of chert below silty clay loam soils (Houseman et al. 2016). This site is predominantly grassland composed of the same dominant grasses as Konza Prairie, with scattered black oaks (Q. veluntina) along the creeks (Houseman et al. 2016)

Houseman, G. R., M. S. Kraushar, and C. M. Rogers. 2016. The Wichita State University biological field station: Bringing breadth to research along the precipitation gradient in Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 119(1):27-32.
Included in this excel file are four tabs: 1. Metadata: methods, authorship and site information; 2. Data Types: column descriptions for each data file in this resource; 3. Site_info; site name, latitude and longitude for the site at which discharge was calculated; 4. QAQC'ed EXO data

Sensors were maintained every three weeks according to this SOP: Flynn, S., S. Godsey, R. Hale, R. Lanfear, E. Seybold, S. Speir, M. Wolford (2025). Sensor Maintenance SOP, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/f056a431a6794d2dbf9f6206c00ac560
Sensors were calibrated quarterly according to this SOP: Flynn, S., R. Lanfear, E. Seybold (2025). Sensor Calibration SOP, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/85fa713daf0142a4b45e3bc8ff1d1e30
FDOM was corrected for Turbidity and Temperature according to the methods from Downing et al 2012.
For YSI data, please see: dorantes, c., S. Flynn, C. L. Brown, M. Busch, A. Sommerville, E. Seybold, A. Burgin (2025). Youngmeyer Ranch, field data (AIMS_GP_YMR_YSIS), HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/1340cc98ea9b47eea46964a6dd93ba5c
For the water depth time series, please see Zipper, S., C. L. Brown, E. Seybold (2025). Youngmeyer Ranch Pressure Transducer Data (AIMS_GP_YMR_PRES), HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/b24c6fadbd80440ca4b64bc2a4692a60
For the discharge time series, please see
For information about installing sensors, please see https://www.hydroshare.org/resource/703cf05242f7455c8dfb072dd072c962/
For DOC grab sample data, please see Plont, S., S. Speir, M. Wolford, N. Jones, S. Flynn, C. L. Brown, E. Seybold (2025). AIMS_GP_YMR_DOCS, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/11076f1909d44468acc478cca2dc7ebc
For nutrient grab sample data, please see Smith, C., C. L. Brown, S. Flynn, S. Plont, S. Speir, M. Busch, C. Atkinson (2025). AIMS Youngmeyer Ranch nutrient data (AIMS_GP_YMR_NUTR), HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/364342b391ee4f769a7adf4eb2cd58d6
For watershed environmental data, please see Brown, C. L., S. Zipper, M. Busch (2025). Youngmeyer Ranch, KS Environmental Data (AIMS_GP_YMRV1.0), HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/d499a6e70f6a4ab3af42e922027e1448