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Post-wildfire debris-flow monitoring data, Las Lomas, 2016 Fish Fire, Los Angeles County, California, November 2016 to February 2017

June 18, 2019

This data release includes time-series data from a monitoring site located in a small (0.12 km2) drainage basin in the Las Lomas watershed in Los Angeles County, CA, USA. The site was established after the 2016 Fish Fire and recorded a series debris flows in the first winter after the fire. The station is located along the channel at the outlet of the study area (34 9'18.50"N, 117 56'41.33"W, WGS84). The data were collected between November 15, 2016 and February 23, 2017. The data include two types of time series: (1) continuous 1-minute time series of rainfall and flow stage recorded by a laser distance meter suspended over the channel (LasLomasContinuous.csv), and (2) 50-Hz time series of flow stage and flow-induced ground vibrations recorded by two geophones (LasLomasStorm.csv). The continuous file contains brief data gaps when the station was serviced, at which time the record of cumulative rainfall was reset to zero. The ground vibrations were measured by two 4.5 Hz vertical axis geophones (Geospace SNG 11D/PC902/OPEN-30m) located approximately 2 m from the channel bank. One geophone was located 6.4 m upstream from the laser distance meter. The second geophone was located 7.6 m downstream of the geophone. The geophone data is recorded in millivolts and the geophone constant is 32 Volts/(m/s). The equation for converting the laser distance measurements into flow stage above the bedrock in the channel is: Stage_laser (meters) = 4.320 meters - Distance_laser (millimeters) /1000. Time stamps are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Details of this study are described in the journal article: Tang, H., McGuire, L.A., F.K. Rengers, Kean, J. W., Staley, D.M., and Smith, J.B. (2018), Evolution of debris flow initation mechanisms and sediment sources during a series of post-wildfire rainstorms, J. Geophys. Res., xxx, FYYYYY, doi:10.1029/2018JF004837.

Publication Year 2019
Title Post-wildfire debris-flow monitoring data, Las Lomas, 2016 Fish Fire, Los Angeles County, California, November 2016 to February 2017
DOI 10.5066/P9F3YTBP
Authors Joel B Smith, Jason W Kean, Francis K Rengers, Luke A. McGuire, Dennis M Staley
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Digital Object Identifier Catalog
USGS Organization Landslide Hazards Programs