Watershed Data Management (WDM) Database (SC16.WDM) for Salt Creek Streamflow Simulation, DuPageCounty, Illinois, January 1, 1997, through September 30, 2016 (ver. 1.1, September 2024)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with DuPage County Stormwater Management Department, developed a watershed data management (WDM) database of hourly meteorological and hydrologic data for use in a near real-time streamflow simulation system. This WDM database is updated at least weekly by USGS staff with the latest available data. These data are initially provisional and may have periods of missing or flawed data due to equipment malfunctions or other problems. To improve the accuracy of simulations, the WDM database is updated and corrected with quality-assured and quality-controlled (QA/QC) data for each water year (a water year is the 12-month period, October 1 through September 30, in which it ends). This update is done to maintain a record of the data in a model-compatible format and for studying historical storms.

Murphy and Ishii (2006) describe the data sources and data organization used to create the QA/QC version of the WDM database, including how periods of missing or inaccurate precipitation data are estimated. The QA/QC of the database SEP04.WDM discussed in Murphy and Ishii (2006) encompasses the period from January 1, 1997, through September 30, 2004. The QA/QC data for the period October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2011, are appended to the WDM database Sep04.WDM and renamed as SEP11.WDM. Bera (2014) describes the data sources and data organization used to create the QA/QC version of the WDM database SEP11.WDM, including how periods of missing or inaccurate precipitation data are estimated. The WDM database SEP11.WDM is further updated with the QA/QC data for the period October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, appended to it and renamed as SC16.WDM.

The precipitation data are collected from a tipping-bucket rain-gage network and the hydrologic data (stage and discharge) are collected at USGS streamflow-gaging stations in and around DuPage County, Illinois. Hourly precipitation and hydrologic data for the period October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, are processed following the guidelines described in Bera (2014) and appended to SEP11.WDM and renamed as SC16.WDM. Except for precipitation, meteorological data (wind speed, solar radiation, air temperature, dewpoint temperature, and potential evapotranspiration) from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, are copied from ARGN16.WDM and appended to SC16.WDMThe precipitation data are collected from a tipping-bucket rain-gage network and the hydrologic data (stage and discharge) are collected at USGS streamflow-gaging stations in and around DuPage County, Illinois. Hourly precipitation and hydrologic data for the period October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, are processed following the guidelines described in Bera (2014) and appended to SEP11.WDM and renamed as SC16.WDM. With the exception of precipitation, meteorological data (wind speed, solar radiation, air temperature, dewpoint temperature, and potential evapotranspiration) from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, are copied from ARGN16.WDM and appended to SC16.WDM.

Errors have been found in each of ARGNXX.WDM prior to Water Year (WY) 2023. XX represents last two digits of a WY. A WY is the 12-month period, October 1 through September 30, in which it ends. SC16.wdm
contains erroneous meteorological data and related flag values thereby. SC16.WDM is removed. User is advised to download SC22.WDM from https://doi.org/10.5066/P14D6FRA.
SC22.WDM contains corrected meteorological data from ARGN23.WDM (Bera, 2024a) for the period from January 1, 1997, through September 30, 2022. This database file also contains the quality-assured and quality-controlled hydrologic data for the period January 1, 1997, through September 30, 2022, processed following the guidelines documented in Bera (2014). While SC16.WDM is available from the author, all the records in SC16.WDM can be found in SC22.WDM as well.

The WDM database SC22.WDM contains sixty-five datasets with a dataset number (DSN) assigned to each in a systematic order as described in Murphy and Ishii (2006). The data organization and sources for precipitation, stage, and discharge are discussed in Murphy and Ishii (2006) and Bera (2014). The detail list of attributes for each dataset in SC22.WDM is given in table 1. The complete list of missing data periods of precipitation data and the nearby stations used to fill in those missing data from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, is given in table 2. The list of snow affected days of precipitation data and the missing and estimated period of the stage and flow data in SC22.WDM database during the period October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2016, is given in USGS annual Water-Data Reports at https://wdr.water.usgs.gov.

To open the WDM database SC22.WDM user needs to install Sara Timeseries utility described in the section "Related External Resources".

First posted - November 11, 2015 (available from author)

Revised - September 2024

References Cited:

Bera, M., 2024a, Meteorological Database, Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P146RBHK.

____ 2024b, Watershed Data Management (WDM) Database (SC22.WDM) for Salt Creek Streamflow Simulation, DuPage County, Illinois, January 1, 1997, through September 30, 2022: U.S. Geological Survey, https://doi.org/10.5066/P14D6FRA.

Bera, M., 2014, Watershed Data Management (WDM) database for Salt Creek streamflow simulation, DuPage County, Illinois, water years 2005–11: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 870, 18 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds870.

Murphy, E.A., and Ishii, A.L., 2006, Watershed Data Management (WDM) database for Salt Creek streamflow simulation, DuPage County, Illinois: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2006–1248, 34 p.