Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1655–1672, 2018 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1655-2018 © Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. The Cariboo Alpine Mesonet: sub-hourly hydrometeorological observations of British Columbia’s Cariboo Mountains and surrounding area since 2006 Marco A. Hernández-Henríquez1, Aseem R. Sharma2, Mark Taylor1, Hadleigh D. Thompson2, and Stephen J. Déry1 1Environmental Science and Engineering Program, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada 2Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Program, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada Correspondence: Stephen J. Déry (
[email protected]) Received: 27 March 2018 – Discussion started: 12 April 2018 Revised: 14 August 2018 – Accepted: 23 August 2018 – Published: 11 September 2018 Abstract. This article presents the development of a sub-hourly database of hydrometeorological conditions collected in British Columbia’s (BC’s) Cariboo Mountains and surrounding area extending from 2006 to present. The Cariboo Alpine Mesonet (CAMnet) forms a network of 11 active hydrometeorological stations positioned at strategic locations across mid- to high elevations of the Cariboo Mountains. This mountain region spans 44 150 km2, forming the northern extension of the Columbia Mountains. Deep fjord lakes along with old-growth western redcedar and hemlock forests reside in the lower valleys, montane forests of Engelmann spruce, lodge- pole pine and subalpine fir permeate the mid-elevations, while alpine tundra, glaciers and several large ice fields cover the higher elevations. The automatic weather stations typically measure air and soil temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall and snow depth at 15 min intervals.