Dr. Theodore B. Barnhart studies the connection between the mountain snowpack and streamflow.
Dr. Barnhart is interested in furthering the understanding of how changes in the mountain snowpack translate into changes in streamflow and how that process varies across landscapes, land cover types, and climate systems. He is also interested in understanding the water resources implications of the changing mountain snowpack and streamflow and the effects on downstream stakeholders. He uses numerical snowpack and hydrologic models for his research along with observational and remote sensing data sets.
Professional Experience
Research Physical Scientist, United States Geological Survey, Wyoming – Montana Water Science Center, Helena, MT: 2020-present.
Physical Scientist, United States Geological Survey, Wyoming – Montana Water Science Center, Helena, MT: 2017-2020.
Research Assistant, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO: 2013-2018.
Research Assistant, Department of Geology, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID: 2011-2013.
Education and Certifications
PhD Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, 2018.
MS Geology, Idaho State University, 2013.
BA Geology-Environmental Studies with Honors, Whitman College, 2010, Cum Laude.
Affiliations and Memberships*
Present: American Geophysical Union
Science and Products
Future Streamflow Estimates for Tongue River to Enable Northern Cheyenne Data Driven Water Management and Planning
Future Streamflow Estimates for Tongue River to Enable Northern Cheyenne Data Driven Water Management and Planning
State of the Science in Streamflow Modeling in the North Central Region to Address Partner Needs for Water Availability Under Drought Conditions
Flow-Conditioned Parameter Grids
Building a framework to compute continuous grids of basin characteristics for the conterminous United States
Geospatial Research and Development to Understand Hydrologic Processes
Historical simulated snowpack for the Lake Sherburne, MT watershed and vicinity, water years 1980-2019
National Hydrologic Model Alaska Domain parameter database, version 1
Geospatial Fabric for the National Hydrologic Model Alaska Domain, version 1
Data to Estimate Water Use Associated with Continuous Oil and Gas Development, Williston Basin, United States, 1980-2017 (ver. 3.0, October 2022)
Water Use Data for Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments in and near the Williston Basin, United States, 2000-2015
High resolution SnowModel simulations reveal future elevation-dependent snow loss and earlier, flashier surface water input for the Upper Colorado River Basin
Predictions and drivers of sub-reach-scale annual streamflow permanence for the upper Missouri River basin: 1989-2018
Evaluating hydrologic region assignment techniques for ungaged basins in Alaska, USA
Beyond streamflow: Call for a national data repository of streamflow presence for streams and rivers in the United States
Estimates of water use associated with continuous oil and gas development in the Williston Basin, North Dakota and Montana, 2007–17
Runoff sensitivity to snow depletion curve representation within a continental scale hydrologic model
Analytical framework to estimate water use associated with continuous oil and gas development
Conceptual model to assess water use associated with the life cycle of unconventional oil and gas development
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Flow-Conditioned Parameter Grid Tools
The Flow-Conditioned Parameter Grid (FCPG) Tools are a Python 3 library to make FCPGs for either two-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC2) regions, four-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC4) regions, or other geospatial tiling schemes. These tools can be used in a Linux-based high performance computing (HPC) environment or locally on your system.
StreamStats Data Preparation Tools, version 4
A Python package to pre-process and hydro-enforce digital elevation models using hydrography features for use in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) StreamStats project.
Science and Products
- Science
Future Streamflow Estimates for Tongue River to Enable Northern Cheyenne Data Driven Water Management and Planning
Atmospheric warming is driving: - a shift in precipitation from snow to rain - changing precipitation intensity and seasonality - increasing atmospheric demand for moisture in mountain river watersheds across the western United States (Seager and others, 2015). These changes will likely alter the timing and quantity of streamflow in rivers draining mountains. The Tongue River flows from the...Future Streamflow Estimates for Tongue River to Enable Northern Cheyenne Data Driven Water Management and Planning
Atmospheric warming is driving a shift in precipitation from snow to rain, changing precipitation intensity and seasonality, and increasing atmospheric demand for moisture in mountain river watersheds across the western United States. These changes will likely alter the timing and quantity of streamflow in rivers draining from the mountains. The Tongue River flows from the Bighorn mountains in norState of the Science in Streamflow Modeling in the North Central Region to Address Partner Needs for Water Availability Under Drought Conditions
Land and water managers often rely on hydrological models to make informed management decisions. Understanding water availability in streams, rivers, and reservoirs during high demand periods that coincide with seasonal low flows can affect how water managers plan for its distribution for human consumption while sustaining aquatic ecosystems. Substantial advancement in hydrological modeling has ocFlow-Conditioned Parameter Grids
Flow-Conditioned Parameter Grids (FCPGs) are a way of storing the upstream average of datasets, such as precipitation or land cover type, for all points on the landscape.Building a framework to compute continuous grids of basin characteristics for the conterminous United States
The proposed work will create a seamless pilot dataset of continuous basin characteristics (for example upstream average precipitation, elevation, or dominant land cover type) for the conterminous United States. Basin characteristic data are necessary for training or parameterizing statistical, machine learning, and physical models, and for making predictions across the landscape, particularly inGeospatial Research and Development to Understand Hydrologic Processes
All natural phenomena have a spatial component. Remote sensing, GIS, and geostatistical methods can be used to evaluate the spatial components of hydrologic phenomena and understand characteristics, such as water quality, streamflow, and hydraulics. - Data
Historical simulated snowpack for the Lake Sherburne, MT watershed and vicinity, water years 1980-2019
Abstract This data release contains historical SnowModel (Liston and Elder, 2006) output for the Lake Sherburne, MT watershed and surrounding area. The two quantities simulated for this release were snow water equivalent depth (swed), the liquid water equivalent depth stored as snow in the simulation domain, and runoff (roff), which includes snowmelt at the snow-soil interface and rainfall on pixeNational Hydrologic Model Alaska Domain parameter database, version 1
This data release contains input data for hydrologic simulations of the Alaska Domain application of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Precipitation Runoff Modelling System (PRMS) as implemented in the National Hydrologic Model (NHM) infrastructure (Regan and others, 2018). The NHM Alaska Domain parameter database consists of 114 parameter files in ASCII format (CSV), two files needed to run the AGeospatial Fabric for the National Hydrologic Model Alaska Domain, version 1
This metadata record documents a geospatial dataset for the U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) used to drive the National Hydrologic Model (NHM). The Alaska Geospatial Fabric v1 is the spatial representation of the hydrologic response units (HRUs) used for the PRMS NHM Alaska domain. These HRUs were generated using the twelve-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC12) waterData to Estimate Water Use Associated with Continuous Oil and Gas Development, Williston Basin, United States, 1980-2017 (ver. 3.0, October 2022)
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides data to estimate water use associated with continuous oil and gas development in the Williston Basin during 1980-2017. Data included: Data records from the national hydraulic fracturing chemical registry, FracFocus, including the state, county, latitude and longitude of each well, and the year and volume of water used for hydraulic fracturiWater Use Data for Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments in and near the Williston Basin, United States, 2000-2015
Water used for hydraulic fracturing treatments in and near the Williston Basin during 2000-2015, was estimated using data reported in IHS Markit (TM) (2016). Hydraulic fracturing treatment data from IHS Markit (TM) (2016) may include volumes in a variety of measurement units, and they may include multiple treatments per well. All listed treatments within the study area were converted to gallons an - Multimedia
- Publications
High resolution SnowModel simulations reveal future elevation-dependent snow loss and earlier, flashier surface water input for the Upper Colorado River Basin
Continued climate warming is reducing seasonal snowpacks in the western United States, where >50% of historical water supplies were snowmelt-derived. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, declining snow water equivalent (SWE) and altered surface water input (SWI, rainfall and snowmelt available to enter the soil) timing and magnitude affect streamflow generation and water availability. To adapt effecAuthorsJohn C. Hammond, Graham A. Sexstone, Annie Laura Putman, Theodore B. Barnhart, David Rey, Jessica M. Driscoll, Glen Liston, Kristen L. Rasmussen, Daniel McGrath, Steven R. Fassnacht, Stephanie K. KampfPredictions and drivers of sub-reach-scale annual streamflow permanence for the upper Missouri River basin: 1989-2018
The presence of year-round surface water in streams (i.e., streamflow permanence) is an important factor for identifying aquatic habitat availability, determining the regulatory status of streams, managing land use change, allocating water resources, and designing scientific studies. However, accurate, high resolution, and dynamic prediction of streamflow permanence that accounts for year-to-yearAuthorsRoy Sando, Kristin Jaeger, William H. Farmer, Theodore B. Barnhart, Ryan R. McShane, Toby L. Welborn, Kendra E. Kaiser, Konrad Hafen, Kyle W. Blasch, Benjamin C. York, Alden ShallcrossEvaluating hydrologic region assignment techniques for ungaged basins in Alaska, USA
Building continental-scale hydrologic models in data-sparse regions requires an understanding of spatial variation in hydrologic processes. Extending these models to ungaged locations requires techniques to group ungaged locations with gaged ones to make process importance and model parameter transfer decisions to ungaged locations. This analysis (1) tested the utility of fundamental streamflow stAuthorsTheodore B. Barnhart, William H. Farmer, John C. Hammond, Graham A. Sexstone, Janet H. Curran, Joshua C. Koch, Jessica M. DriscollBeyond streamflow: Call for a national data repository of streamflow presence for streams and rivers in the United States
Observations of the presence or absence of surface water in streams are useful for characterizing streamflow permanence, which includes the frequency, duration, and spatial extent of surface flow in streams and rivers. Such data are particularly valuable for headwater streams, which comprise the vast majority of channel length in stream networks, are often non-perennial, and are frequently the mosAuthorsKristin Jaeger, Konrad Hafen, Jason B. Dunham, Ken M. Fritz, Stephanie K. Kampf, Theodore B. Barnhart, Kendra E. Kaiser, Roy Sando, Sherri L Johnson, Ryan R. McShane, Sarah Beth DunnEstimates of water use associated with continuous oil and gas development in the Williston Basin, North Dakota and Montana, 2007–17
This study of water use associated with development of continuous oil and gas resources in the Williston Basin is intended to provide a preliminary model-based analysis of water use in major regions of production of continuous oil and gas resources in the United States. Direct, indirect, and ancillary water use associated with development of continuous oil and gas resources in the Williston BasinAuthorsRyan R. McShane, Theodore B. Barnhart, Joshua F. Valder, Seth S. Haines, Kathleen M. Macek-Rowland, Janet M. Carter, Gregory C. Delzer, Joanna N. ThamkeRunoff sensitivity to snow depletion curve representation within a continental scale hydrologic model
The spatial variability of snow water equivalent (SWE) can exert a strong influence on the timing and magnitude of snowmelt delivery to a watershed. Therefore, the representation of subgrid or subwatershed snow variability in hydrologic models is important for accurately simulating snowmelt dynamics and runoff response. The U.S. Geological Survey National Hydrologic Model infrastructure with the PAuthorsGraham A. Sexstone, Jessica M. Driscoll, Lauren Hay, John C. Hammond, Theodore B. BarnhartAnalytical framework to estimate water use associated with continuous oil and gas development
An analytical framework was designed to estimate water use associated with continuous oil and gas (COG) development in support of the U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program. This framework was developed to better understand the relation between the production of COG resources for energy and the amount of water needed to sustain this type of energy development in the UnitAuthorsJoshua F. Valder, Ryan R. McShane, Theodore B. Barnhart, Spencer L. Wheeling, Janet M. Carter, Kathleen M. Macek-Rowland, Gregory C. Delzer, Joanna N. ThamkeConceptual model to assess water use associated with the life cycle of unconventional oil and gas development
As the demand for energy increases in the United States, so does the demand for water used to produce many forms of that energy. Technological advances, limited access to conventional oil and gas accumulations, and the rise of oil and gas prices resulted in increased development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) accumulations. Unconventional oil and gas is developed using a method that combinesAuthorsJoshua F. Valder, Ryan R. McShane, Theodore B. Barnhart, Roy Sando, Janet M. Carter, Robert F. LundgrenNon-USGS Publications**
Barnhart, T.B., Vukomanovic, J., Bourgeron, P., and Molotch, N.P. (2021). Future Land Cover and Climate May Drive Decreases inSnow Wind-Scour and Transpiration, Increasing Streamflow at a Colorado, USA Headwater Catchment. Hydrological Processes, e14416.Barnhart, T. B., Tague, C. L., & Molotch, N. P. (2020). The counteracting effects of snowmelt rate and timing on runoff. Water Resources Research, 56, e2019WR026634.Barnhart, T.B., N.P. Molotch, B. Livneh, A.A. Harpold, J.F. Knowles, D. Schneider (2016), Snowmelt Rate Dictates Streamflow: Geophysical Research Letters, 43(15), 8006-8016.Harpold, A.A., J.A. Marshall, S.W. Lyon, T.B. Barnhart, B. Fisher, M. Donovan, K.M. Brubaker, C.J. Crosby, N.F. Glenn, C.L. Glennie, P.B. Kirchner, N. Lam, K.D. Mankoff, J.L. McCreight, N.P. Molotch, K.N. Musselman, J. Pelletier, T. Russo, H. Sangireddy, Y. Sjöberg, T. Swetnam, and N. West (2015), Laser Vision: Lidar as a Transformative Tool to Advance Critical Zone Science: Hydrology and Earth System Science, 19, 2881-2897.Barnhart, T.B., and B.T. Crosby (2013), Comparing Two Methods of Surface Change Detection on an Evolving Thermokarst Using High-Temporal-Frequency Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Selawik River, Alaska: Remote Sensing, 5, 2813-2837.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
- Software
Flow-Conditioned Parameter Grid Tools
The Flow-Conditioned Parameter Grid (FCPG) Tools are a Python 3 library to make FCPGs for either two-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC2) regions, four-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC4) regions, or other geospatial tiling schemes. These tools can be used in a Linux-based high performance computing (HPC) environment or locally on your system.
StreamStats Data Preparation Tools, version 4
A Python package to pre-process and hydro-enforce digital elevation models using hydrography features for use in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) StreamStats project.
- News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government