Lab-0012: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:05, 14 April 2022

River Discharge Data Analysis

Model
n/a

Duration
3.0 hrs

Updated
2022-04-14

Download
download

Run online using:

Jupyter
Lab

Contributor(s)

Irina Overeem at INSTAAR - University of Colorado Boulder.

Introduction

In this lab, we learn about river stage and discharge, using gage height data downloaded from the USGS for the upper Colorado River. We use standard Python libraries to read, analyze, and visualize the data.

Classroom organization
This lab is appropriate for advanced undergraduates and graduate students majoring in earth science/engineering.

We will be looking at data on river discharge--the volume of water transported through a given cross section per time--in the Colorado River. This Jupyter Notebook lends itself to a short introduction on the concept of river discharge and how it is measured, as well as an introduction to the gauging stations of the USGS. The data analysis requires basic Python data handling skills, but the coding is introductory level.

Students can run the Notebook, and they're encouraged to do assignments on their own or as homework. A review and discussion of solutions by the instructor after completion by the participants is recommended.

Download associated file: RiverStageDischargeIntroduction.pdf
Concept Diagrams of Stage and Discharge Measurements

Learning objectives
Skills

Load data from a CSV file using the pandas library
Access data in a DataFrame
Create plots of data from a DataFrame
Save plots to a file

Key concepts

River discharge and stage
Stage-discharge relationship
Difficulties in relating stage to discharge

Lab notes

River discharge data for many US rivers is available from the USGS WaterWatch website:

http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=co.

River stage data is typically measured by keeping track of the water surface height over time, i.e. stage, and this needs to be converted to discharge through a stage-discharge relationship.

Tabular data like these, with a combination of dates, name and data quality strings, and numbers are best handled by spreadsheets where entries such as dates and times are in some useful format. In Python the Python Data Analysis Library (a.k.a. Pandas) is really useful for this purpose.

We use one discharge data file downloaded for the USGS station at Kremmling, CO, for the Upper Colorado.

This lab can be run on either the lab (for educators) or jupyter (for general use) instance of the OpenEarthscape JupyterHub: just click one of the links under the Run online using heading at the top of this page, then run the notebook in the "CSDMS" kernel.

If you don't already have a JupyterHub account, follow the instructions to sign up at https://csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/JupyterHub. If you're an educator, you can get JupyterHub accounts for students--please contact us through the CSDMS Help Desk: https://csdms.github.io/help-desk.

Requirements
If run locally, this lab requires the installtion of the Python packages matplotlib and pandas.

Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1831623, Community Facility Support: The Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS).

References

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |Labtitle=River Discharge Data Analysis
 |LabCOModule=1 of 1
-|LabDateContributedOrUpdated=2020/05/31
+|LabDateContributedOrUpdated=2022-04-14
-|LabDescriptionShort=Learn how river stage and discharge are measured
+|LabDescriptionShort=Learn about river stage and discharge, using gage height data downloaded from the USGS for the upper Colorado River. Use standard Python libraries to read, analyze, and visualize data.
-Learn how to import and manipulate USGS river discharge data
-Learn basic principles of csv file import and the Python pandas library
 |LabCODuration=3.0 hrs
+|LabModelDocumentation=n/a
 |LabAssociatedLesson=Jupyter Notebook
+|LabURLDownloadNotebook=https://downgit.github.io/#/home?url=https://github.com/csdms/ekt_lab/tree/master/notebooks/discharge_analysis
+|LabURLStartNotebook=https://jupyter.openearthscape.org/hub/user-redirect/git-pull?repo=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fcsdms%2Fekt_lab&urlpath=tree%2Fekt_lab%2Fnotebooks%2Fdischarge_analysis%2FLoadUSGSDischargeData_UpperColorado.ipynb&branch=master
+|LabURL2StartNotebook=https://lab.openearthscape.org/hub/user-redirect/git-pull?repo=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fcsdms%2Fekt_lab&urlpath=tree%2Fekt_lab%2Fnotebooks%2Fdischarge_analysis%2FLoadUSGSDischargeData_UpperColorado.ipynb&branch=master
 }}
 {{LabContributorData
 |LabContributorName=Irina Overeem
-|LabContributorInstitute=University of Colorado
+|LabContributorInstitute=INSTAAR - University of Colorado Boulder
+|LabContributorURLPersonal=http://instaar.colorado.edu/people/irina-overeem/
 }}
 {{LabIntro
-|LabDescription=Topical learning objectives
+|LabDescription=In this lab, we learn about river stage and discharge, using gage height data downloaded from the USGS for the upper Colorado River. We use standard Python libraries to read, analyze, and visualize the data.
-# concept of river discharge and stage
-# what are stage-discharge relationships
-# what are some difficulties for relating stage to discharge
-Python Skill Learning Objectives:
-# Load csv data from a file using the Pandas library.
-# Access data in DataFrames.
-# Create plots of data in DataFrames.
-# Save figures to file.
 |LabPicture=RiverDischargeTimeseries.png ‎
 }}
 {{LabClassroomOrganization
-|LabCOIntro=We will be looking at data on river discharge - the volume of water transported through a given cross section per time- of the Colorado River.
+|LabCOIntro=This lab is appropriate for advanced undergraduates and graduate students majoring in earth science/engineering.
-This notebook lends itself well with a short introduction on the concept of river discharge, how it is measured and an introduction on gauging stations of the USGS.
-The data analysis part requires basic python handling skills, but is introductory level.
+We will be looking at data on river discharge--the volume of water transported through a given cross section per time--in the Colorado River.
-Students can run through notebook and are encouraged to do assignments by themselves (or as homework). A review and discussion of solutions by the instructor after completion by the participants is recommended.
+This Jupyter Notebook lends itself to a short introduction on the concept of river discharge and how it is measured, as well as an introduction to the gauging stations of the USGS.
+The data analysis requires basic Python data handling skills, but the coding is introductory level.
+Students can run the Notebook, and they're encouraged to do assignments on their own or as homework. A review and discussion of solutions by the instructor after completion by the participants is recommended.
 |LabCOPresentationUpload=RiverStageDischargeIntroduction.pdf
 |LabCOPresentationText=Concept Diagrams of Stage and Discharge Measurements
 }}
 {{LabLearningObjectivesSkills
-|LabSkill=Load csv data from a file using the Pandas library
+|LabSkill=Load data from a CSV file using the pandas library
 }}
 {{LabLearningObjectivesSkills
-|LabSkill=Access data in DataFrames
+|LabSkill=Access data in a DataFrame
 }}
 {{LabLearningObjectivesSkills
-|LabSkill=Create plots of data in DataFrames
+|LabSkill=Create plots of data from a DataFrame
 }}
 {{LabLearningObjectivesSkills
-|LabSkill=Save figures to file
+|LabSkill=Save plots to a file
 }}
 {{Headerplaceholder}}
@@ Line 52: / Line 49: @@
 {{LabTopicalLearningObjectives
 |LabTopicalLearningObjective=Stage-discharge relationship
+}}
+{{LabTopicalLearningObjectives
+|LabTopicalLearningObjective=Difficulties in relating stage to discharge
 }}
 {{LabNotes
-|LabNotesInstructions=We will be looking at data on river discharge - the volume of water transported through a given cross section per time- of the Upper Colorado River.
+|LabNotesInstructions=River discharge data for many US rivers is available from the USGS WaterWatch website:
+http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=co.
-River discharge data for many US rivers is available from the USGS water watch website:
-http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=co
 River stage data is typically measured by keeping track of the water surface height over time, i.e. stage, and this needs to be converted to discharge through a stage-discharge relationship.
-Tabular data like this data with a combination of dates, name and data quality strings, and numbers are best handled by spreadsheets where entries such as dates and times are in some useful format. In Python the Python Data Analysis Library (a.k.a. Pandas) is really useful for this purpose.
+Tabular data like these, with a combination of dates, name and data quality strings, and numbers are best handled by spreadsheets where entries such as dates and times are in some useful format. In Python the Python Data Analysis Library (a.k.a. Pandas) is really useful for this purpose.
 We use one discharge data file downloaded for the USGS station at Kremmling, CO, for the Upper Colorado.
-|LabAcknowledgements=CSDMS, NSF Award
+<p>This lab can be run on either the <em>lab</em> (for educators) or <em>jupyter</em> (for general use) instance of the OpenEarthscape JupyterHub: just click one of the links under the <strong>Run online using</strong> heading at the top of this page, then run the notebook in  the "CSDMS" kernel.</p>
+<p>If you don't already have a JupyterHub account, follow the instructions to sign up at https://csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/JupyterHub. If you're an educator, you can get JupyterHub accounts for students--please contact us through the CSDMS Help Desk: https://csdms.github.io/help-desk.</p>
+|LabNotesRequirements=If run locally, this lab requires the installtion of the Python packages ''matplotlib'' and ''pandas''.
+|LabAcknowledgements=This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1831623, ''Community Facility Support: The Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS)''.
 }}