North Temperate Lakes LTER: Lake Levels 1981 - current

Lake level is measured during the open water season for the seven primary lakes in the Trout Lake area (Allequash, Big Muskellunge, Crystal, Sparkling, and Trout lakes and unnamed lakes 27-02 [Crystal Bog], and 12-15 [Trout Bog]) using Solinst level loggers in stilling wells logging at 30 minute intervals. Lake level elevation is also manually measured several times each season using a survey of benchmarks of known elevation to calibrate the level loggers. Prior to 2017, lake level was measured with staff gauges placed near the shoreline. Staff gauges were read every two weeks as part of LTER routine sampling.
Two data files are provided. One has a sampling rate of roughly biweekly during the open water season. This provide sampling rate continuity through the 40+ years this data has been collected, and is in a long format. The second data file includes the full 30-minutes sampling rate that the Solinst level loggers provide. This latter data begins in 2017 and is given in a wide format with a column representing each of the seven lakes. Values are the water elevation in meters above sea level.