About This Application

This application is a data portal for browsing and managing stream water temperature monitoring data across British Columbia and Yukon for Pacific Salmon. It brings together raw time-series temperature readings, pre-computed statistical summaries, station metadata, and organizational information to support salmon habitat research and conservation. This data is used by the Pacific Salmon Explorer.

Data is organized hierarchically: Organizations collect and steward datasets in various projects and programs. Each dataset is described by a Data Catalog (metadata) record that documents the program, access terms, and data steward. Catalog entries are linked to one or more Monitoring Stations, each of which holds the actual water temperature time-series recordings along with daily, monthly, and yearly statistical summaries.

Project Team

Developers / Contributors

Porter, M., Senior Analyst¹; Robinne, F.-N., Analyst¹; Bayly, M., Quantitative Biologist²; Bryan, K., GIS Specialist¹; Belton, K., Project Manager¹; Peacock, S., Senior Analyst¹; Connors, K., Director Salmon Programs¹; Honka, L., Program Manager¹.

¹ Pacific Salmon Foundation   ² M.J. Bayly Analytics Ltd.

Acknowledgements

PSF wants to acknowledge the people who contributed their time to help with the design of this database: Ian Giesbrecht, Ray Brunsting, Nick Mazany-Wright, Megan Adams, Alison Oliver, Sarah Tremblay, Nell Libera, and Patrick Schaeferd.

How the Data Is Structured

Background

Freshwater temperature is a critical environmental variable influencing Pacific salmon throughout their life cycle, either by modulating the functioning of aquatic ecosystems or by triggering thermal stress on individuals (Mayer et al., 2023; Eliason et al., 2011). Ongoing environmental degradation—from urban encroachment on floodplains to heatwaves triggered by climate change—have changed the thermal regime of many freshwater habitats that harbour salmon populations. Accessing continuous (i.e., high frequency) freshwater temperature data provides the capacity to monitor changes to salmon habitat throughout the course of the day (i.e., diel cycle), of a season, of the year, or across multiple years when trend analyses are required.

In 2023, the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s (PSF) Salmon Watershed Program was awarded a BCSRIF grant. Among the multiple objectives of the grant, one focused on the compilation and centralization of freshwater temperature data from partner organizations and beyond into a single, quality-controlled database, with the end goal being the improvement of salmon ecosystem monitoring capacities throughout the Pacific region. Such a database might also be leveraged for other watershed management and water science applications.

1. This effort will harmonize different datasets built by many different groups (e.g., First Nations, eNGO, governments) using different data collection methods adapted to their monitoring capacities and needs. Finding and collating relevant data from multiple and disparate sources has long been identified as a significant bottleneck in converting data into useful information (Robinne et al., 2022; Howarth et al., 2023; Kuehne et al., 2023). Harmonized, verified, and documented data available on a single open platform will increase their potential for reuse.
2. The observations contained in the database could be readily coupled to streamflow and salmon population data to better understand population dynamics and the role of temperatures throughout the salmon life cycle. Such information is crucial to the development of a whole-ecosystem approach to salmon population and habitat management (Winfree et al., 2018; Ulaski et al., 2023).
3. Accessing a large pool of freshwater temperature data will offer more possibilities to investigate the effect of disturbances such as forest fires and droughts, as well as the ongoing and expected impacts of climate change on salmon habitat (Moore et al., 2014; Peacock et al., 2023; Dunham et al., 2007).
4. Field data are essential to modeling activities. Making the freshwater temperature database open access, water quality modellers will be able to use an off-the-shelf product to calibrate their model and assess the relevance of their results (Weller et al., 2023). Modeling also makes it possible to identify future freshwater refugia and map future shifts in population ranges due to climate change (Abidi et al., 2022; Marsha et al., 2021).
5. Finally, the Canadian Pacific region is vast and notoriously devoid of an optimal coverage of water monitoring stations (Mishra & Coulibaly, 2010; WWF-Canada, 2020). A comprehensive database of existing water temperature monitoring capacities can be leveraged to identify gaps and to prioritize areas for monitoring network extension. Furthermore, this database and its structure could also be used to guide data aspects of future monitoring programs and thus further contribute to long-term data standardization.

Use-Cases

Use cases are descriptions of situations where the data will be used for a particular purpose. Below are five use cases based on the premise that data have been accessed—through direct download or API—by the end user:

• A provincial fisheries manager interested in the spatial and temporal distribution of historical and existing temperature gauges and programs throughout a region of interest. This manager might have funding available for the installation of temperature data loggers. Using the location and the years of activity of the stations, it is possible to get a quick snapshot of existing monitoring gaps within a region of interest. If necessary, the data can be used for a more advanced analysis of existing gaps relying on the use of network optimization techniques.
• A local watershed organization wanting trend analysis to investigate the impact of climate change. Given the documented effects of climate change on the health of watersheds worldwide, it is possible to use the temperature time series to investigate whether such effects are already visible and by how much within a given watershed of the Pacific region. The availability of pre-computed data summaries (e.g., maximum temperature during summer) in the database makes it easier for organizations with less capacity to leverage the content of the database, nonetheless.
• A PSF data analyst tasked with providing reports in an emergency (e.g., the Big Bar or Chilcotin landslides). It would be possible to query the database immediately to search for downstream and upstream gauges within an area of interest and explore how the event might have a cumulative impact on already stressed watersheds. In case the area is not well covered by a monitoring network, it would be possible to use the database to spot gaps and suggest locations where loggers should be deployed as soon as possible.
• A PSF intern needing to run some simple statistics and create a couple maps for a project. Access to essential tables can be granted and connection as well as analysis can be done using QGIS. If need be, the intern can export the data used for further analysis, without the need for direct database access.
• An external research scientist willing to work on a disturbance study for impact on salmon habitat. Using the location of the stations, the scientist can look at those temperature time series downstream of burned areas within Conservation Units and test whether fire activity has had a noticeable effect on diel temperatures ranges; since salmon are cold water fish, high water temperatures can impact their health.

Database Design

The database design is essentially a blueprint. It provides the details necessary to build the database: the number and names of tables, their attributes, the data types, the primary and foreign keys, the relationships and their cardinality, the data domains, etc. The TwDB design and documentation were mainly inspired by the Laval University’s datEAUbase (Plana et al., 2019) for water quality, by the Water Survey of Canada’s HYDAT (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2010) for stream flow, and the Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database (CABD, n.d.).

References

1. Abidi, O., St-Hilaire, A., Ouarda, T. B. M. J., Charron, C., Boyer, C., & Daigle, A. (2022). Regional thermal analysis approach: A management tool for predicting water temperature metrics relevant for thermal fish habitat. Ecological Informatics, 70, 101692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2022.101692
2. Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database. (n.d.). Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database. Retrieved from https://cabd-docs.netlify.app/
3. Dunham, J. B., Rosenberger, A. E., Luce, C. H., & Rieman, B. E. (2007). Influences of wildfire and channel reorganization on spatial and temporal variation in stream temperature and the distribution of fish and amphibians. Ecosystems, 10(2), 335–346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-007-9029-8
4. Eliason, E. J., Clark, T. D., Hague, M. J., Hanson, L. M., Gallagher, Z. S., Jeffries, K. M., ... & Farrell, A. P. (2011). Differences in thermal tolerance among sockeye salmon populations. Science, 332(6025), 109–112. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199158
5. Environment and Climate Change Canada. (2010). National Water Data Archive: HYDAT. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/water-overview/quantity/monitoring/survey/data-products-services/national-archive-hydat.html
6. Howarth, A., Nguyen, V. M., & Cooke, S. J. (2023). Managing Canadian freshwater fisheries: Persistent challenges and emerging opportunities. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 80(9), 1436–1455. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2023-0011
7. Kuehne, L. M., Dickens, C., Tickner, D., et al. (2023). The future of global river health monitoring. PLOS Water, 2(9), e0000101. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000101
8. Marsha, A. L., Steel, E. A., & Fullerton, A. H. (2021). Modeling thermal metrics of importance for native vs non-native fish across stream networks to provide insight for watershed-scale fisheries management. Freshwater Science, 40(1), 120–137. https://doi.org/10.1086/713038
9. Mayer, N. B., Hinch, S. G., & Eliason, E. J. (2023). Thermal tolerance in Pacific salmon: A systematic review of species, populations, life stages and methodologies. Fish and Fisheries, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12808
10. Mishra, A. K., & Coulibaly, P. (2010). Hydrometric network evaluation for Canadian watersheds. Journal of Hydrology, 380(3), 420–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.11.015
11. Moore, J. W., Yeakel, J. D., Peard, D., Lough, J., & Beere, M. (2014). Life-history diversity and its importance to population stability and persistence of a migratory fish: Steelhead in two large North American watersheds. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83(5), 1035–1046. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12212
12. Peacock, S. J., Braun, D. C., Hodgson, E. E., Connors, B. M., Bryan, K., & Connors, K. (2023). Testing for broad-scale relationships between freshwater habitat pressure indicators and Pacific salmon population trends. Ecological Indicators, 147, 109935. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109935
13. Plana, Q., Alferes, J., Fuks, K., et al. (2019). Towards a water quality database for raw and validated data with emphasis on structured metadata. Water Quality Research Journal, 54(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.2166/wqrj.2018.013
14. Robinne, F. N., Paquette, C., Hallema, D. W., Bladon, K. D., & Parisien, M. A. (2022). Baseline geographic information on wildfire-watershed risk in Canada: Needs, gaps, and opportunities. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 47(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2022.2032367
15. Ulaski, M. E., et al. (2023). Spatially variable effects of streamflow on water temperature and thermal sensitivity within a salmon-bearing watershed in interior British Columbia, Canada. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4200
16. Weller, J. D., Moore, R. D., & Iacarella, J. C. (2023). Stream thermalscape scenarios for British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2023.2267028
17. Winfree, M. M., Hood, E., Stuefer, S. L., et al. (2018). Landcover and geomorphology influence streamwater temperature sensitivity in salmon bearing watersheds in Southeast Alaska. Environmental Research Letters, 13(6). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/AAC4C0
18. WWF-Canada. (2020). WWF-Canada’s 2020 Watershed Reports: A National Reassessment of Canada’s Freshwater. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004322714_cclc_2020-0074-0392