Stream temperature investigations: field and analytic methods

This document provides guidance to the user of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Stream Network Temperature Model (SNTEMP). Planning a temperature study is discussed in terms of understanding the management objectives and ensuring that the questions will be accurately answered with the modeling approach being used.

A sensitivity analysis of SNTEMP is presented to illustrate which input variables are most important in predicting stream temperatures. This information helps prioritize data collection activities, highlights the need for quality control, focuses on which parameters can be estimated rather than measured, and offers a broader perspective on management options in terms of knowing where the biggest temperature response will be felt.

All of the major input variables for stream geometry, meteorology, and hydrology are discussed in detail. Each variable is defined, with guidance given on how to measure it, what kind of equipment to use, where to obtain it from another agency, and how to calculate it if the data are in a form other than that required by SNTEMP. Examples are presented for the various forms in which water temperature, discharge, and meteorological data are commonly found. Ranges of values for certain input variables that are difficult to measure of estimate are given. Particular attention is given to those variables not commonly understood by field biologists likely to be involved in a stream temperature study. Pertinent literature is cited for each variable, with emphasis on how other people have treated particular problems and on results they have found.