DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mgqnk995p
title: Water level elevation data for monitoring wells and surface water gages at the Colorado State University Mountain Campus, 2019 – 2023

description: This dataset contains groundwater and surface water levels measured
 between 2019 and 2023 at the Colorado State University Mountain Campus.
 The study site is situated within a formerly glaciated valley traversed by
 a modern perennial stream, the South Fork Cache la Poudre River, and
 occurs near the subalpine-montane ecosystem transition at an approximate
 elevation of 2,750 meters above sea level. Water levels were measured at
 two transects (the upstream and downstream transects). Each transect
 includes a surface water gage, two shallow hand-augered monitoring wells
 on the valley floor within the riparian zone, and a deeper water table
 observation well located on the adjacent terrace. Water levels were
 measured at a subhourly frequency using a combination of vented and
 non-vented pressure transducers. All data from non-vented transducers were
 corrected for barometric pressure fluctuations.
description: See README file
description: This dataset includes the following primary data files with water level
 elevations for eight locations during the monitoring period: S1.csv,
 R1a.csv, R1b.csv, MW1.csv, S2.csv, R2a.csv, R2b.csv, MW2.csv Description
 of locations: S1 -- Upstream surface water gage. R1a -- Upstream riparian
 well near stream. R1b -- Upstream riparian well further from stream. MW1
 -- Upstream water table observation well. S2 -- Downstream surface water
 gage. R2a -- Downstream riparian well near stream. R2b -- Downstream
 riparian well further from stream. MW2 -- Downstream water table
 observation well. Description of columns in each csv file: Column 1 --
 Date and time (Mountain Time Zone) Column 2 -- Water temperature (degrees
 C) Column 3 -- Water level elevation (meters above mean sea level) Column
 4 -- Data collection period (see corresponding date range in the file
 'MtnCampus Data Collection Periods.xlsx') Description of
 pressure transducers deployed at each location: S1 -- Solinst Model 3001
 LTC Levelogger Edge, M5 R1a -- Solinst Model 3001 LTC Levelogger Edge, M5
 R1b -- Solinst Model 3001 LTC Levelogger Edge, M5 S2 -- Campbell
 Scientific, Inc. CS451 Stainless-Steel Pressure Transducer R2a -- Campbell
 Scientific, Inc. CS451 Stainless-Steel Pressure Transducer R2b -- Campbell
 Scientific, Inc. CS451 Stainless-Steel Pressure Transducer MW1, MW2 --
 Solinst Model 3001 LTC Levelogger Edge, M10/C80 Baro station -- Solinst
 Model 3001 LT Barologger Edge, M1.5 Data processing and QA/QC comments: 1.
 All of the raw level data from non-vented pressure transducers were
 corrected for barometric pressure fluctuations. Barometric pressure
 conversion from kPa to meters of water assumed the density of water at 10
 deg Celsius (rho = 999.7 kg/m3). 2. Water level elevations (WLEs)
 calculated from pressure transducer readings were dependent on the
 deployed sensor depth. Accurate sensor depths were ensured by comparing
 the calculated WLEs to manually measured water levels (via staff gage
 readings or depth-to-water measurements in wells). Manual measurements
 were collected 4-6 times per year; these supporting data are available
 upon request. 3. All files include gaps in data collection. Time periods
 without data may be explained by seasonal deployments/retrievals of
 equipment; for example, instrumentation was pulled from surface water
 stations and selected shallow monitoring wells during November-May.
 Additionally, water level records affected by sampling disturbances were
 removed from the published data files. 4. Water temperature data (reported
 in Column 2 of csv files) have not been independently checked. Anomalous
 temperature data have been identified for the sensor deployed in MW1. ---
 Associated data file with barometric pressure data:
 'MC_Baro.csv' -- data from Baro Logger deployed near MW1. Column
 1 -- Date and time (Mountain Time Zone) Column 2 -- Air temperature
 (degrees C) Column 3 -- Barometric pressure (kPa) Column 4 -- Data
 collection period (see corresponding date range in the file
 'MtnCampus Data Collection Periods.xlsx') --- Additional files
 included with this publication: 'MCgwswLocs.csv' (Location data
 for each measurement location. Lat/long in decimal degrees.)
 'WLdata_Locs.tif' (Map showing the groundwater and surface water
 measurement locations) 'MtnCampus Data Collection Periods.xlsx'
 (Data collection time periods. Indicates temporal availability of
 measurements for each location.) 'MCRTK10.29.2020.xlsx'
 (Mountain Campus RTK data) This file contains additional details on the
 Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) surveying method and data processing that were
 used to determine Lat/Long coordinates and elevations for the eight
 locations with water level data. In the worksheet "Survey
 Points," the columns Corrected Lat, Corrected Long, and Corrected
 Elev contain the finalized coordinates after making corrections using base
 station files. Note that these Lat/Long/Elev values are consistent with
 the values provided in related csv file 'MCgwswLocs.csv'.
 Corrections were performed using the NOAA online positioning user service.
 See detailed information in the "NOTES" and "OPUS
 info" worksheets within the file.