The Hubbard Brook Watershed Stream and Precipitation Chemistry Record is a dataset of chemical concentration data for precipitation and streamwater samples that have been collected weekly since the summer of 1963 from streams and precipitation gauges throughout the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, a research forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. HBWatER currently collects weekly samples from nine gauged watersheds, the mainstem of the Hubbard Brook into which each small stream drains, and two long-term precipitation collection sites. HBWatER was begun in the 1960's by Gene E. Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, Robert S. Pierce, and Noye M. Johnson who began collecting and analyzing stream and precipitation (rain and snow). They had a simple idea, that by comparing watershed inputs in rain and snow to watershed outputs from streams, they could measure the behavior of entire ecosystems in response to atmospheric pollution or forestry practices. Stream and precipitation samples have been collected every week from 1963 to the present day. Insights gained from studying this long-term chemical record led to the discovery of acid rain in North America and have documented the effectiveness of federal clean air legislation in reducing coalfired power plant emissions.
The collection and analysis of HBWatER samples is currently sustained by Tammy Wooster (Cary IES) and Jeff Merriam (USFS) and the dataset is curated and maintained by a team of researchers: Emma Rosi (Cary IES), Emily Bernhardt (Duke), Lindsey Rustad (USFS), John Campbell (USFS), Bill McDowell (UNH), Charley Driscoll (Syracuse U.), Mark Green (Case Western), and Scott Bailey (USFS). Current Financial Support for HBWatER is provided by NSF LTREB # 1907683 and the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station.
These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station.