Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Southern Colorado Plateau Network

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Southern Colorado Plateau Network Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2006/007 ON THE COVER Grand Canyon National Park Photograph copyrighted by Jim Ashby Weather and Climate Inventory National Park Service Southern Colorado Plateau Network Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2006/007 WRCC Report 06-06 Christopher A. Davey, Kelly T. Redmond, and David B. Simeral Western Regional Climate Center Desert Research Institute 2215 Raggio Parkway Reno, Nevada 89512-1095 September 2006 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The Natural Resource Publication series addresses natural resource topics that are of interest and applicability to a broad readership in the National Park Service and to others in the management of natural resources, including the scientific community, the public, and the National Park Service conservation and environmental constituencies. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. The Natural Resource Technical Reports series is used to disseminate the peer-reviewed results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service’s mission. The reports provide contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. Current examples of such reports include the results of research that addresses natural resource management issues; natural resource inventory and monitoring activities; resource assessment reports; scientific literature reviews; and peer reviewed proceedings of technical workshops, conferences, or symposia. Views and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect policies of the National Park Service. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Printed copies of reports in these series may be produced in a limited quantity and they are only available as long as the supply lasts. This report is also available from the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM) on the Internet or by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Please cite this publication as follows: Davey, C. A., K. T. Redmond, and D. B. Simeral. 2006. Weather and Climate Inventory, National Park Service, Southern Colorado Plateau Network. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR— 2006/007. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2006/007, September 2006 ii Table of Contents Page Figures ................................................................................................................................ v Tables ............................................................................................................................... vi Appendixes ..................................................................................................................... vii Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... viii Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... xii 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Network Terminology .......................................................................................... 3 1.2 Weather versus Climate Definitions .................................................................... 4 1.3 Purpose of Measurements .................................................................................... 4 1.4 Design of a Climate-Monitoring Program ........................................................... 5 2.0 Climate Background .................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Climate and the SCPN Environment ................................................................. 10 2.2 Spatial Variability .............................................................................................. 12 2.3 Temporal Variability .......................................................................................... 16 2.4 Parameter Regression on Independent Slopes Model ........................................ 27 3.0 Methods ..................................................................................................................... 28 3.1 Metadata Retrieval ............................................................................................. 28 3.2 Criteria for Locating Stations ............................................................................. 31 4.0 Station Inventory ....................................................................................................... 32 4.1 Climate and Weather Networks ......................................................................... 32 4.2 Station Locations ............................................................................................... 37 iii Table of Contents (continued) Page 5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................... 64 5.1 Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network ....................... 64 5.2 Spatial Variations in Mean Climate ................................................................... 65 5.3 Climate Change Detection ................................................................................. 66 5.4 Aesthetics ........................................................................................................... 66 5.5 Information Access ............................................................................................ 67 5.6 Summarized Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................. 67 6.0 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................... 68 iv Figures Page Figure 1.1. Map of the Southern Colorado Plateau Network ........................................... 2 Figure 2.1. Mean annual precipitation, 1961–1990, for the SCPN ................................ 13 Figure 2.2. Mean July precipitation, 1961–1990, for the SCPN .................................... 14 Figure 2.3. Mean monthly precipitation at CHCU and WACA ..................................... 15 Figure 2.4. Mean monthly precipitation at MEVE ......................................................... 16 Figure 2.5. Mean annual precipitation, 1961–1990, for GRCA ..................................... 17 Figure 2.6. Mean annual temperature, 1961–1990, for the SCPN ................................. 18 Figure 2.7. Mean January minimum temperature, 1961–1990, for the SCPN ................19 Figure 2.8. Mean July maximum temperature, 1961–1990, for the SCPN .................... 20 Figure 2.9. Mean annual temperature, 1961–1990, for GRCA ...................................... 21 Figure 2.10. Mean January minimum temperature, 1961–1990, for GRCA .....................22 Figure 2.11. Mean July maximum temperature, 1961–1990, for GRCA ......................... 23 Figure 2.12. Mean annual temperature trends, 1895-2005, for the Colorado River Basin ....................................................................................24 Figure 2.13. Temperature time series, 1895-2005, for northwestern Arizona (a) and for northwestern New Mexico (b) ..................................... 25 Figure 2.14. Precipitation time series, 1895-2005, for northwestern Arizona (a) and for northwestern New Mexico (b) ..................................... 26 Figure 4.1. Station locations for SCPN park units in the greater Four Corners region.......................................................................... 47 Figure 4.2. Station locations for SCPN park units in north-central Arizona .................. 53 Figure 4.3. Station locations for SCPN park units in New Mexico ............................... 63 v Tables Page Table 1.1. Park units in the SCPN .................................................................................... 3 Table 3.1. Primary metadata fields for weather/climate stations within the SCPN ............................................................................................ 29 Table 3.2. Additional sources of weather and climate metadata for the SCPN .................................................................................................. 30 Table 4.1. Weather/climate networks represented within the SCPN .............................. 32 Table 4.2. Number of stations near (in) SCPN park units .............................................. 38 Table 4.3. Weather/climate stations for SCPN park units in the greater Four Corners Region .......................................................................... 40 Table 4.4. Weather/climate stations for SCPN park units in north-central Arizona ....................................................................................

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