Red Butte Creek NEON - United States of America

Basic Information
Platform Icon

Site Name
Red Butte Creek NEON
Short name
REDB
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/field-sites-map/REDB
Site Manager
Amy Jacobs
Site Description
Red Butte Creek (REDB) is NEON's Core Aquatics site for the Domain 15: Great Basin. The creek flows down the east-west trending Red Butte Canyon through the Wasatch Mountains and opens into the Salt Lake Valley. Red Butte Creek once served as the primary water source for the U.S. Army's Fort Douglas. Red Butte Canyon is held by the U.S. Forest Service and is designated as a Research Natural Area (RNA) which is closed to public access. As a largely pristine watershed at the urban-wilderness interface, NEON's data from Red Butte Creek will inform researchers and decision makers on changes to the health of this and other Great Basin watersheds. This site has one meteorological station located in the riparian area and one meteorological station above water on a buoy. The met stations are outfitted with the a subset of the same sensors used at terrestrial sites. Measurements include wind speed and direction, air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, shortwave radiation, and PAR. Remote sensing surveys of this site collect lidar, spectrometer and high resolution RGB camera data. Five groundwater wells throughout the site collect specific conductivity, water tempertaure, and elevation of groundwater. This site has one buoy-mounted sensor station and an inlet station and outlet station. At the buoy, the automated instrument measurements are: PAR at water surface, PAR below water surface, temperature at a specific depth in surface water, water quality (specific conductivity, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen content, pH turbidity, and fDOM), and nitrate. At the inlet and outlet stations, the measurements are: PAR below water surface, elevation of surface water, and temperature in surface water. Field ecologists collect the following types of observational data at this site: aquatic organisms (Aquatic Microbes (surface water),macroinvertebrates microalgae, plants and macroalgae, zooplankton. Biogeochemical data on plants,sediment water and particulates.As well as physical aquatic data on bathymetric maps, stage,secchi depth and depth profiles, and riparian assessment. Total data products planned for this site: 81
Last modified
2020-07-27 10:07:36

CC-BY-NC Logo

General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2017
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (REDB)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
REDB ice crystals in stream
REDB ice crystals in stream
REDB Spring Flow 2017
REDB Spring Flow 2017
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 40.78374 Longitude: -111.79765

Size
ca. 180.00ha
Elevation (average)
1742.00msl
Elevation (min)
1524.00msl
Elevation (max)
2499.00msl
Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water rivers
Biome
Deciduous Forest
Ecosystem Type
Agricultural
Forest
Deciduous Forest
Air Temperature: Average Annual
9.00°C
Precipitation Annual
713.00mm
Geology
Red Butte Canyon cuts a path down the western slope of the Wasatch Mountain range, which sits at the far eastern edge of the Basin and Range province, as it intersects with the Rocky Mountains above Salt Lake City, UT. While often considered to be the wes
Vegetation
Red Butte Canyon has several distinct plant communities occupying different niches. The mouth of the canyon sits in the Salt Lake Valley, with dominant vegetation reminiscent of that in the rest of the eastern Great Basin. As the canyon rises, it transitions through different vegetative zones until it enters a conifer community that resembles the southern Rocky Mountains. The grass-forb community at the mouth of the canyon includes Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), Big Sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata), Antelope Bitterbrush (Pursha tridentata), and Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae). At the bottom of the canyon lies a riparian zone covered by a canopy of Box Elder (Acer negundo) and Cottonwood (Populus spp.) trees. Under this, numerous smaller trees such as Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), Dogwood (Cornus sericea), and Water Birch (Betula occidentalis) intermix with Wild Mint (Mentha arvensis), Goldenrod (Salidago spp.), and Horsetails (Equisetum spp.) along the water’s edge.Red Butte Canyon’s walls rise out of the riparian zone into a community dominated by Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii) and Bigtooth Maple (Acer grandidentatum). Oregon Grape (Mahonia repens) spreads under this canopy, and grasses and forbs fill in areas where the canopy breaks letting light through. As the elevation rises, Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) begins to dot the canyon and the oak-maple vegetative zone gives way to one dominated by taller stands of trees. Above this, heartier shrubs and forbs that can handle life high on the mountain surround populations of Aspen (Populus tremuloides), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and White Fir (Abies concolor).
Hydrology
Red Butte Creek is a free-flowing perennial stream from its headwaters near 8200 feet in elevation to around 5400 feet, when it flows into Red Butte Reservoir, then out through Red Butte Garden, and into Salt Lake City. While it is no longer a source of drinking water for the Salt Lake Valley, several recreational areas, such as the pond in Liberty Park, are fed by it. NEON’s data collection in Red Butte Creek takes place upstream of the reservoir from an altitude of around 5640 feet to 5460 feet. The water flow in Red Butte Creek is strongly influenced by seasonal trends such as the snowpack and precipitation, and base flow is maintained by groundwater inputs throughout the stream. The water is clear and quite alkaline with a high mineral content and high conductivity. The flow varies dramatically throughout the year and has high year-to-year variability as well. At the United States Geological Survey gauge station, just downstream of NEON’s study area, stream discharge has been measured for over 50 years, and has varied from less than one cubic foot per second to over 100 cubic feet per second.
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes