Youngmeyer Ranch (KS) Stream and Groundwater Pressure Transducer Data (AIMS_GP_YMR_PRES)

Youngmeyer Ranch is located in Elk County, KS (outlet location: 37.56442, -96.49106) and managed by Wichita 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).

These data were collected in support of the sampling goals of the Aquatic Intermittency effects on Microbiomes in Streams (AIMS) Project. 14 pressure transducers were placed in seven sets of nested groundwater and surface water monitoring wells along the Youngmeyer watershed,as well as an additional pressure transducer hanging from a tree at the watershed outlet to collect barometric pressure throughout sites in the watershed. These pressure transducers collected data from 2021 through 2024. These nested well locations monitored water level continuously throughout the project, as well as served as the AIMS approach 2 sampling locations, where a field team co-collected datasets characterizing the hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology across seven locations within the watershed.

These sensors were set to collect temperature and pressure data every 15 minutes starting from 2021 through 2024. The raw pressure data were converted to water level using barometric pressure data and surveyed elevation data. Each .csv file is associated with a single sensor for a single year.

For more information, see the AIMS_GP_YMR_PRESdata_ReadME.xlsx file in the resource.