Data from: Deploying flow path sampling platforms to improve watershed monitoring

This dataset represents water quality data collected from ditch and streams in a Minnesota Agricultural Watershed, High Island Creek. Data were collected from an inflatable raft with high spatial resolution resulting in water quality maps for selected portions of the watershed. These data were interpreted within the ecological context of spatial stability to characterize watershed influences on nitrogen transport or removal from the stream. These data were used in a manuscript that was published in the journal: Biogeochemistry. The abstract from that paper is copied below.<b>Abstract</b>For watershed management, it is important to monitor the impact of mitigation practices on water quality. Effective monitoring can foster further adoption of conservation actions by demonstrating success. However, the spatial resolution of most agricultural watershed monitoring is low, and linking field-scale management or the influence of individual watershed features to a single downstream monitoring station is difficult. We investigated how surface flow path sampling can be used in low-order agricultural streams to gain a better understanding of processes controlling nitrate-nitrogen (NO3--N) export. We characterize spatial patterns in stream NO3--N concentrations and the temporal stability of these patterns in two contrasting agricultural stream reaches. In a watershed region with homogenous land use, NO3--N concentrations are stable through time and spatial dependence persists across large distances. In a heterogeneous region of the watershed which includes wetlands, spatial patterns are variable through time and spatial dependence persists across variable distances during contrasting stream conditions. Our results indicate that surface flow path sampling is most valuable in landscapes with multiple, changing influences on analytes. In these landscapes, surface flow-path sampling can identify control points and capture how the influence of these control points change through time. In homogenous landscapes, surface flow-path sampling can be most valuable for establishing the location of control points to inform where fixed-site monitoring should occur. By coupling surface flow-path sampling with traditional fixed-site monitoring, researchers and watershed managers can develop a deeper understanding of watershed processes which can help plan for more effective management.