USDA-ARS North Appalachian Experimental Watershed: 70-Year Hydrologic, Soil Erosion, and Water Quality Database

Hydrologic data from agricultural watersheds are necessary to identify long-term trends and to develop and validate hydrologic and water quality models. These types of data have been collected for 70 yr at the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed (NAEW) near Coshocton, OH. The NAEW has 19 small (0.5–3.0-ha), single-land-use watersheds for which surface runoff data have been collected year round on an event basis for various time periods since 1939. There are six large (17–123-ha), mixed-use watersheds with perennial streams where flow is measured continuously. Hydrologic data have been collected from 11, 2.4-m-deep, 8.1-m2 surface area monolith lysimeters. Meteorological, land management, and soil property data are available. Water quality data have been collected from watersheds and lysimeters since the early 1970s. Collaborative research efforts utilizing this resource are encouraged; the NAEW web site (www.ars.usda.gov/mwa/coshocton; verified 19 Dec. 2009) has detailed information on the types of available data. Data are available through the authors.