Birnie Burn - United Kingdom

Basic Information
Site Name
Birnie Burn
Short name
R27
Country
United Kingdom
Web Address
ECN web site
Operating Organisation
James Hutton Institute
Site Manager
Helen Watson
Site Description
UK ECN site. This ECN freshwater sampling site is a small stream co-located with the James Hutton Institute's terrestrial site at Glensaugh. Glensaugh Research station is located 35 miles south west of Aberdeen, NE Scotland. (NGR NO 671783) on the edge of the Grampian hills and covers over 1100 hectares. There is a small amount of woodland (5ha) and some short term and permanent grassland (150ha) but the dominant cover is semi-natural vegetation which accounts for the remaining area. The Birnie Burn drains a small upland catchment of 0.8 km2 located toward the northern boundary of the research station. The highest hills in the catchment are to the North where they reach an altitude of around 450m. The ECN sampling point and ...
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Relationships to other sites
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Last modified
2023-07-28 09:07:48

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2004
Observed properties
water parameterchemical parameterecosystem parameterbiological parameterchlorophyllcontentofwaterconductivitystageheightwateraciditywateralkalinitywaterlevelwaterqualitywatertemperaturewatertransparencyammoniumcontentdissolvednutrientdissolvedorganiccarboninwatersuspendedsolidstotalorganiccarboninorganicnutrientcontentspeciesabundancespeciespresencenitrogencontent
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_044)This site is a verified "UK ECN" member.
Projects
eLTER (H2020)
Photos
Stream monitoring point on Birnie Burn
Stream monitoring point on Birnie Burn
Geographic
2 km
1 mi
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 56.9 Longitude: -2.55

Size
ca. 1125.00ha
Elevation (average)
241.00msl
Elevation (min)
137.00msl
Elevation (max)
487.00msl
Related location(s)
Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water rivers
Biome
Fresh Water Rivers
Ecosystem Type
Rivers
Small rivers
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Inland surface waters (C)
Inland surface waters (C) » Surface running waters (C2)
Inland surface waters (C) » Surface running waters (C2) » Permanent non-tidal, fast, turbulent watercourses (C2.2)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
6.87°C
Precipitation Annual
1130.10mm
Geology
The catchment lies to the north of The Highland Boundary fault and is underlain by Dalradian Schists.
Vegetation
The Birnie Burn catchment area ( 0.8 km2) is dominated by semi natural vegetation, however in the wider research area (Glensaugh Lter) the vegetation can be classified as follows. There is a small amount of woodland (5ha) and some short term and permanent grassland (150ha) but the dominant cover is semi-natural vegetation which accounts for the remaining area.The vegetation (and soils) within the catchment area can be broadly classified into three zones. Upper zone (>400m a.s.l.): peat mosses (Sphagnum sp) and cotton grass (Eriophurum vaginatum). Middle zone (350-400m a.s.l.): dominated by heather (Calluna vulgaris), blaeberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) and wavy hair grass (Deschampsia flexuasa). Lower zone (220-350m a.s.l.): steep heather and blaeberry covered slopes.
Soils
The soils (and the vegetation) within the catchment area can be broadly classified into three zones. Upper zone (>400m a.s.l.): hill peats. Middle zone (350-400m a.s.l.): freely drained podzols that have developed in thin glacial till on the steeper slopes. Lower zone (220-350m a.s.l.): freely draining iron podzols developed on thin glacial tills.
Hydrology
The Birnie Burn drains a small upland catchment of 0.8 km2 located toward the northern boundary of the research station. The highest hills in the catchment are to the North where they reach an altitude of around 450m. The ECN sampling point and gauging station are located less than 1km south of the stream source at an altitude of 240m a.s.l. The hydrology of the Birnie Burn is typical of upland headwaters in general, in that a combination of steep slopes and thin soils allows precipitation to be delivered rapidly to the stream resulting in quite a flashy run-off regime. The stream channel is narrow (generally less than 1m) during base-flow conditions and depths vary from 10-20cm along some shallow riffled sections reaches to deeper pools of up to 80cm. There is an instrumented paired stream (Cairn Burn) with a similar size catchment area located nearby and for which data is available.
Site Type
Stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
not applicable
Design of Observation
only observation
Scale of Observation
plot within catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Equipment
Data infrastructure » Data services » Data portal
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Structured file
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Spatial data file (GIS)
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Relational database
Supporting infrastructure » Transportation » Vehicle 2WD
Supporting infrastructure » Transportation » Vehicle 4WD
Supporting infrastructure » Staff room at site » > 5 places
Supporting infrastructure » Lodging at site » 1 - 5 beds
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (from site) » Telephone line
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (from site) » GMS/UMTS
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (within site) » Telephone line
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Energy supply » Permanent Power Supply Location » Central station(s)
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Energy supply » Permanent Power Produced » 5-10 kW
Equipment notes
For details see: http://www.hutton.ac.uk/about/facilities/glensaugh
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
Yes
Access Type
dirt road (4WD)
Permanent Operation
Yes
Operation Notes
ECN freshwater monitoring was carried out every week 2003-2013, however some protocols have ceased and baseline monitoring is done via automated stations monitoring water quality continuously.
Site Visit Interval
30
Data Policy URL
http://data.ecn.ac.uk/datapolicy.asp
LTER Site Classification
Extensive
Related Resources on DEIMS-SDR
1 dataset(s) in total:
Birnie Burn: UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) water temperature 2005-2006
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.