Conwy catchment - United Kingdom

Basic Information
Site Name
Conwy catchment
Short name
Conwy
Country
United Kingdom
Web Address
The Conwy: A source to sea catchment research platform
Operating Organisation
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)
Site Manager
Chris Evans
Site Description
Mixed lowland and upland catchment established as a major UK research platform for ecological research, including long-term monitoring of greenhouse has fluxes and water quality, ecosystem-scale experiments, ecological and biogeochemical process studies and modelling. The Conwy catchment incorporates a range of habitats broadly representative of Wales, comprising upland bog and heath, mountain grassland, lowland improved grassland, conifer and broadleaf woodland.
Last modified
2022-08-31 16:08:51

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2006
Observed properties
chemical parameteratmospheric parameterwater parameterbiological parametersoil parameteragricultural parameterlandscape parameterecosystem parameteracidneutralisingcapacityairmethaneconcentrationammoniumcontentavailablephosphoruscarbontonitrogenratiochemicalcompositionofwaterdissolvednutrientdissolvedorganiccarboninwaterdissolvedorganicnitrogeninorganicnutrientcontentinsolubleorganiccarboncontentpercentcarbonpercentorganiccarbonpHvalueofwatersoilaciditysoilcarbonstoragesoilnitrogensoilnutrientsoilorganiccarbonsoilpHsoilsolutionconcentrationsoilsolutionpHsuspendedsolidstotalcarbontotalorganiccarbonwateraciditywateralkalinitywaterturbidityairhumidityairtemperaturecarbondioxideconcentrationheatfluxmaximumtemperaturemeanannualairtemperaturemeanannualprecipitationmeanannualtemperaturemethaneconcentrationminimumtemperatureplantcarbonconcentrationsolarradiationwinddirectionwindspeedammoniumnitrogencontentconductivitydissolvedorganicphosphoruslaketemperaturerunoffamountstageheightwateraciditywaterlevelwaterqualitywatertablewatertemperaturewatervolumeabovegroundbiomassannualnetprimaryproductionleafarealeafarearatioleafnutrientnitrogencontentplantnitrogenconcentrationcarbon-to-nitrogenratiosoilmoisturefieldcapacitysoiltemperaturesoiltexturesoilvolumetricwatercontentthicknessofsoilhorizontotalorganiccarbonamountofnitrateleachingdissolvedorganiccarboninsoilnutrientconcentrationnutrientcontentsoilfertilitylandcoverlanduselanduseintensitylandscapecompositionlandscapemetricsabovegroundnetprimaryproductionmicrobialdiversitysoilmicrobialdiversity
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
LTER Europe✔This site is a verified "LTER Europe" member.
UK ECN✔ (LTER_EU_UK_076)This site is a verified "UK ECN" member.
Projects
eLTER (H2020)
eLTER catalogue
eLTER PLUS (H2020) - VA
Photos
View over the Conwy site
View over the Conwy site
Geographic
200 km
100 mi
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 53.1 Longitude: -3.8

Size
ca. 28500.00ha
Elevation (average)
300.00msl
Elevation (min)
0.00msl
Elevation (max)
1050.00msl
Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Coastal
Fresh water lakes
Fresh water rivers
Terrestrial
Biome
Grasslands
Ecosystem Type
Agricultural
Forest
Grasslands
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Inland surface waters (C)
Mires, bogs and fens (D)
Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats (I)
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
10.00°C
Precipitation Annual
1500.00mm
Geology
Ordovician and Silurian shales and mudstones, acid and basic igneous.
Vegetation
Bog, dwarf shrub heath, acidic grassland, improved grassland, non-native conifer, mixed native broadleaf.
Soils
Peat, mixed organo-mineral soils and brown earths
Hydrology
Large river catchment with multiple lakes and reservoirs.
Protection Level (IUCN category)
Category V – Protected Landscape/Seascape/Area
Site Type
Stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
partly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
plot scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Equipment
Data infrastructure » Data services » Other data services
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Spatial database (GIS)
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Spatial data file (GIS)
Equipment notes
Large inhabited catchment so commercial accommodation available, site is in close proximity to research and lab facilities at CEH, Bangor University (including experimental farm). Power supply varies across site, remote monitoring and experimental locations are operated on solar or wind generators and batteries. Measuring 'tower' (for CO2 and CH4 flux measurement) is located within blanket bog rather than forest, 2 m above vegetation. Multiple sites across catchment are equipped with automatic weather stations, discharge gauges, continuous water chemical sensors etc.
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
Yes
Access Type
paved road
Permanent Operation
No
Operation Notes
Measurement frequency varies from continuous meteorology, flow, greenhouse gas fluxes etc to 2-weekly water sampling, annual productivity measurements, etc. The catchment is the subject of several major ongoing research projects (total value > 5m euros) so operations cost refers to long-term monitoring component only.
Site Visit Interval
14
Maintenance Interval
14
General Data Policy
The data provider must be offered co-authorship for publications using this dataset at least within the metadata description
Formal acknowledgement of the dataset providers
LTER Site Classification
Master
There is EURO-CORDEX climate scenario data available for this site:
Projected Near Surface Specific Humidity ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Precipitation ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Sea Level Pressure ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Surface Downwelling Shortwave RadiationRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Wind SpeedRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85

You can also download the entire climate scenario dataset for this site from the EUDAT B2SHARE data store.