Upper Big Creek NEON - United States of America

Basic Information
Site Name
Upper Big Creek NEON
Short name
BIGC
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/field-sites-map/BIGC
Site Manager
Jessica Bolis
Site Description
The relocatable aquatic Domain 17 site, Upper Big Creek (BIGC), is a wadeable stream on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a watershed size of approximately 10.9 km2. BIGC spans an elevation range of 1003 m - 1700 m and passes through mixed mature cottonwood trees, short grasses, and shrubs. The BIGC catchment is entirely located in the Sierra National Forest, just north of the NEON relocatable terrestrial site, Soaproot Saddle (SOAP). This site is part of the US Forest Service's Major Land Resource Area (MRLA) 22A - Sierra Nevada Mountains and is within the Southern Sierra Lower Montane Forest ecoregion (SOAP soil summary).Total data products planned for this site: 79
Last modified
2021-03-03 10:03:11

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2018
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (BIGC)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
BIGC discharge, photo by: John Schneblen

BIGC discharge, photo by: John Schneblen

Geographic
View in site map
Elevation (average)
1197.00msl
Elevation (min)
1044.00msl
Elevation (max)
1373.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water rivers
Biome
Fresh Water Rivers
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Evergreen Forest
Rivers
Fresh Water Rivers
Air Temperature: Average Annual
7.00°C
Precipitation Annual
941.00mm
Geology
Granodiorite and quartz monzonite. Mesozoic era.


Vegetation
The Upper Big Creek Basin ecosystem is dominated by coniferous forest consisting of ponderosa and sugar pines (Pinus ponderosa and Pinus lambertiana), incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), and white fir (Abies concolor). The understory is primarily scrub-shrub. The riparian forest is dominated by cedar, pine, and fir with a small percentage (<1%) of California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), white alder (Alnus rhombifolia), Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia), and black and Fremont cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa and Populus fremontii). The understory is scrub-shrub with ferns and grasses.The riparian forest floor contains much higher amounts of organic matter due to dead-fall, shading and higher humidity.
Hydrology
The flow regime of Upper Big Creek (BIGC) is typical of snowmelt dominated mountainous streams in the west. Base flows are lowest in the winter (November - March) and highest in the late spring (April – June). BIGC has a mean base flow of 10 liters per second in the autumn months. Snow melt begins in March and peaks in April. Discharge during the peak flow month of April is approximately 21 times greater than base flow.
Site Type
Non-stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
No
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
No