Introduction

The Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site (GLEES) is a high elevation wilderness-like site where research is conducted to determine the effects of atmospheric deposition and climate change on alpine and subalpine aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and the upper treeline ecotone. The GLEES 600 ha research watershed has complex mountainous terrain varying from 3200 to 3500 m elevation. Long-term physical, chemical, and biological monitoring is an important component of the activities at GLEES.

More information can be found on the GLEES website.

Data Description

Since 1989, scientists have traveled to GLEES to gather data on water chemistry, soil and air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, and wind direction. The site’s permanent vegetation plots and more than 25 years worth of historical data make the site a key longterm resource for researchers in the Rocky Mountain region and worldwide. Specific studies have focused on bark beetle impacts, changes in climate, ozone levels and the effectiveness of “cloud seeding” to increase precipitation. GLEES has high-elevation lakes and trees ranging in age from seedling to more than 500 years old, and is home to moose, elk, deer and a species of freshwater shrimp that is normally found near the Arctic Ocean.

Queryable databases

• Meteorology data
   Database query tool
  This database contains hourly meteorological tower data collected at the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site (GLEES), in the Snowy Range near Centennial, Wyoming. Data include air temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, scalar wind speed, wind direction, soil temperature, and wet-dry sensor measurements.
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• Stream data
   Database query tool
  Hourly stream height, discharge and water temperature data collected from 1987 through 2021 on the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site (GLEES), in the Snowy Range near Centennial, Wyoming. Data are provided for West Glacier Lake as well as three very small watersheds: East Glacier Lake, Cascade, and Meadow.
  • View metadata

All data publications

• Browse our full list of data publications.

If you have questions about these data or have conducted a research study on the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site and would like to make your dataset available for use by others, please contact .

Some supplemental data documentation available on this site may be provided in PDF or PDF/A format. Get the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to interpret these files.