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Research Areas
Climatology
The rather distinctive combination of overall wetness, mild temperatures, wet winters, and dry summers that characterize the climate of the Pacific Northwest strongly influences many ecological and geophysical characteristics of the region. Climate of the Andrews Forest is broadly structured by the mid-latitude intersection of moist, maritime air masses from the Pacific and a series of north-south mountain ranges.
Long-term measurements of air temperature, precipitation, snow, soil temperature, humidity, and other variables have been collected at multiple sites since the 1950s. These data are used in maps, models, and analyses of temporal patterns and trends to characterize and understand the dynamic climate of the Andrews Forest. Major areas of research focus on the interactions of regional climate with topography, cold-air pooling, snowpack accumulation and melt patterns, and temporal trends in air temperature, precipitation, and snow.
Mean annual precipitation at the principal, longest-duration, low-elevation (CS-2, 1952-2006, 500 m) climate station is 2257 mm, with strong temporal variation at the scales of storms, seasons, inter-annual, and long-term trends. The mean daily temperature ranges from 10.5 °C at the lowest elevation (PriMet station at 430 m elevation) and 7.7°C at high elevations (VanMet station at 1294 m), and varies substantially at diel, seasonal, and inter-annual.
Mean annual precipitation map for the Andrews Forest and vicinity based on PRISM 1971-2000. Mean annual precipitation map for the Andrews Forest and vicinity based on PRISM 1971-2000. Research Details
- LTER6 Climate research midterm report (June 18, 2011)
- Long-Term Climate Data Trends Analyses from the Andrews Forest (Nov 2008 - 2009 Science Hour Discussions)
- Future direction for climate research in LTER6
- Results and products of climate research in LTER5
- Automated anomaly detection in climate data
- Current Field Measurements and Historic Program Description
- Data Summaries
- Map of climate station locations
Key Databases
- Stream temperature and air temperature from stream gages and stream confluences in the Andrews Experimental Forest, 1950 to present -- HT004
- Meteorological data from benchmark stations at the Andrews Experimental Forest, 1957 to present -- MS001
- Reference Stand air and soil temperature network at the Andrews Experimental Forest, 1971 to present -- MS005
- Snow depth and snow water equivalent measurements along a road course in the Andrews Experimental Forest, 1978 to present -- MS007
- Average monthly and annual precipitation spatial grids (1980-1989), Andrews Experimental Forest -- MS027
- Average monthly and annual temperature spatial grids (1980-1990) (Rosentrater thesis), Andrews Experimental Forest -- MS028
- Mean monthly maximum and minimum air temperature spatial grids (1971-2000), Andrews Experimental Forest -- MS029
- Radiation spatial grids, Andrews Experimental Forest, 1995-2000 -- MS033
List of all Climatology databases
Personnel
- Leader(s)
- Key Personnel
- Associates
- Graduate Students
Other Links
Key Citations
- Mapping the Thermal Climate of the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon
- Current HJA Weather and Provisional Data
- ClimDB/HydroDB: LTER Intersite Climate and Hydrology Databases
Daly, Christopher; Widrlechner, Mark P.; Halbleib, Michael D.; Smith, Joseph I.; Gibson, Wayne P. 2012. Development of a new USDA plant hardiness zone map for the United States. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. 51(2):242-264. DOI:10.1175/2010JAMC2536.1. (Pub No: 4634)
Pepin, N. C.; Daly, C.; Lundquist, J. 2011. The influence of surface versus free-air decoupling on temperature trend patterns in the western United States. Journal of Geophysical Research. 116(D10109): doi:10.1029/2010JD014769. (Pub No: 4703)
Daly, Christopher; Conklin, David R.; Unsworth, Michael H. 2010. Local atmospheric decoupling in complex topography alters climate change impacts. International Journal of Climatology. 30: 1857-1864, doi:10.1002/joc.2007. (Pub No: 4438)
Dereszynski, Ethan W.; Dietterich, Thomas G. 2007. Probabilistic models for anomaly detection in remote sensor data streams. In: Parr, Ronald; van der Gaag, Linda, eds. Proceedings of the 23rd conference on uncertainty in artificial intelligence (UAI-2007); Vancouver, BC. Corvallis, OR: AUAI Press: 75-82. (Pub No: 4322)
Jones, Julia A.; Post, David A. 2004. Seasonal and successional streamflow response to forest cutting and regrowth in the northwest and eastern United States. Water Resources Research. 40: W05203, doi: 10.1029/2003WR002952. (Pub No: 2787)
Greenland, David; Bierlmaier, Frederick; Harmon, Mark; Jones, Julia; McKee, Arthur; Means, Joseph; Swanson, Frederick J.; Whitlock, Cathy. 2003. Climate variability and ecosystem response at the H.J. Andrews Long-Term Ecological Research site. In: Greenland, David; Goodin, Douglas G.; Smith, Raymond C., eds. Climate variability and ecosystem response at Long-Term Ecological Research sites. New York: Oxford University Press: 393-410. (Pub No: 3086)
Greenland, David; Goodin, Douglas G.; Smith, Raymond C.; Swanson, Frederick J. 2003. Climate variability and ecosystem response--synthesis. In: Greenland, David; Goodin, Douglas G.; Smith, Raymond C., eds. Climate variability and ecosystem response at Long-Term Ecological Research sites. New York: Oxford University Press: 425-449. (Pub No: 3670)
Moore, Georgianne W. 2003. Drivers of variability in transpiration and implications for stream flow in forests of western Oregon. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University. 160 p. Ph.D. dissertation. (Pub No: 3738)
Bond, Barbara J.; Jones, Julia A.; Moore, Georgianne; Phillips, Nathan; Post, David; McDonnell, Jeffrey J. 2002. The zone of vegetation influence on baseflow revealed by diel patterns of streamflow and vegetation water use in a headwater basin. Hydrological Processes. 16: 1671-1677. (Pub No: 3092)
Smith, Jonathan W. 2002. Mapping the thermal climate of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University. 222 p. M.S. thesis. (Pub No: 3117)
Knapp, Paul A.; Grissino-Mayer, Henri D.; Soulé, Peter T. 2002. Climatic regionalization and the spatio-temporal occurrence of extreme single-year drought events (1500-1998) in the interior Pacific Northwest, USA. Quaternary Research. 58: 226-233. (Pub No: 3646)
Greenland, David; Kittel, Timothy G. F. 2002. Temporal variability of climate at the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites. Climate Research. 19: 213-231. (Pub No: 2628)
Post, David A.; Jones, Julia A. 2001. Hydrologic regimes of forested, mountainous, headwater basins in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, and Puerto Rico. Advances in Water Resources. 24: 1195-1210. (Pub No: 2786)
Rosentrater, Lynn D. 1997. The thermal climate of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon . Eugene, OR: University of Oregon. 133 p. M.S. thesis. (Pub No: 2383)
Bierlmaier, Frederick A.; McKee, Arthur. 1989. Climatic summaries and documentation for the primary meteorological station, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, 1972 to 1984. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-242. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 56 p. (Pub No: 939)
Waring, R. H.; Holbo, H. R.; Bueb, R. P.; Fredriksen, R. L. 1978. Documentation of meteorological data from the Coniferous Forest Biome primary station in Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-73. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 23 p. (Pub No: 190)
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