BOREAS HYD-08: Throughfall Measurements in Boreal Forests

BOREAS HYD-08 throughfall data contain daily measurements of precipitation passing through the forest canopy at two boreal study sites in 1994 and 1996. The dataset supports research into point hydrological processes and their spatial variation, characterizing canopy interception, drip, and moss interception. A nested spatial sampling plan was implemented to assess the impact of these variations on modeled carbon and water budgets.

Use Cases

• Modeling canopy water interception and evaporation based on daily throughfall measurements.
• Analyzing spatial variation in hydrological processes using the nested sampling plan.
• Calibrating or validating carbon and water budget models for boreal forest ecosystems.
• Studying the relationship between forest structure and precipitation partitioning during the growing season.

Strengths

• Data collected during two major field campaigns (1994, 1996) providing temporal depth.
• Implements a nested spatial sampling plan designed to quantify spatial variation.
• Dataset is hosted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, indicating a research-grade source.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts: last updated date is listed as both 1996-08-11 and 2026-03-13.
• Column names and exact row counts are unknown, limiting immediate usability.
• Data freshness is unclear due to the conflicting update dates; the core measurements are from the mid-1990s.

Provenance

Source

BOREAS HYD-08 team, associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Collection Method

Field measurements of surface hydrological processes.

Time Range

1994, 1996

Freshness

Conflicting: 2026-03-13 (datagov) vs. 1996-08-11 (nasa_earthdata).

Geography

SSA (1996) and NSA OBS (1994) Tower Flux sites in the BOREAS study area (likely Canadian boreal forest).