On August 24, 2016, Tim Brown and Greg McCurdy, Desert Research Institute, and Kathryn Dyer, BLM Nevada, presented a webinar about climate monitoring for land management applications in the Great Basin. 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. This presentation reviews 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. 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. Management application examples include habitat, wildfire, rangeland and drought monitoring.
