AIMS Talladega Dissolved Organic Carbon Data (AIMS_SE_TAL_DOCS)

These samples were collected in support of the core sampling goals of the Aquatic Intermittency effects on Microbiomes in Streams (AIMS) Project. This study was conducted in the Talladega research watershed (outlet location: 33.76219799, -85.59550775) in the Talladega National Forest (Cleburne County, AL, USA). The watershed drains a non-perennial unnamed tributary of Pendergrass Creek, and contains 0.92 km^2 of mixed coniferous and deciduous forest in the Piedmont Upland physiographic section. Located near Anniston, AL, the watershed spans an elevation range from 345 to 456 m above sea level and is a tributary to the Coosa River (within the larger Mobile-Tombigbee basin). The region has a humid subtropical climate, with mean daily January and July air temperatures of 5.3°C and 25.3°C respectively, and mean annual precipitation of 1,400 mm/yr. Between 7 October 2021 and 4 October 2024, grab samples for Dissolved Organic Carbon concentration (DOC, mg/L) collected at the watershed outlet (TLM01) every 3 weeks during routine sensor maintenance (AIMS Approach 1), seasonally at seven distributed, long term monitoring sites (AIMS Approach 2), and during a large synoptic sampling efforts concentrated across the watershed (AIMS Approach 3). DOC samples were filtered through pre-ashed, 0.7-micron glass fiber filters (Whatman GF/F) into acid-washed, 60-mL amber high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles. DOC samples were preserved by acidifying to a ph = 2 using concentrated HCl and refrigerated until analysis within 28 days of collection. DOC concentrations were determined as non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC) using a total organic carbon analyzer (Schimadzu TOC-V).