Recent drought, change agents and the spectrum of greater management needs have highlighted the relative dearth of in situ weather and climate measurement stations in the Great Basin. Thus, interest has grown in supplementing or initiating atmospheric and hydrologic measurements. The purpose of this project was to review the existing station networks in the context of management needs by providing examples of how climate observation gaps can be assessed, and by providing some guidelines for the placement of new or augmented stations.
The report shows how observation gaps can be discovered utilizing basic geospatial data. Three management applications is used: greater sage-grouse habitat, wildfire and grazing allotments. The importance of drought monitoring in the Great Basin is discussed, since drought is a potential impact in nearly all land management applications. Future climate is also briefly discussed.
Based on describing the regional physical characteristics, station siting guidelines, and management applications, a number of recommendations are offered to improve climate monitoring in the Great Basin.
