Part 1 — Download Streamflow Data

In any step, click the Show me link to reveal extra information. If you prefer a printout of the full set of instructions for this part, choose Print from the File menu.

Step 1-
Select the State

Access the USGS Real-Time Water Data for the Nation, select Massachusetts from the Geographic Area menu in the upper right corner of the Web page, and click Go.

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  1. Access the USGS Real-Time Water Data for the Nation, select Massachusetts from the Geographic Area menu in the upper right corner of the Web page, and click Go.
    This image includes the title bar of the USGS Web site and the drop down menu where an individual state can be selected.

Step 2-
Select the Statewide Streamflow Table

In the new window that opens, click on the heading Statewide Streamflow Table.

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  1. Click on the heading Statewide Streamflow Table.
    Web site area that provides information about the provisional nature of the data

Step 3-
Choose the Station, the Type of Data, and the Time Frame for the Data

In the new window that opens, scroll down to the Merrimack River Basin and click on the station number for the Sudbury River at Saxonville. On the new page that opens, change the setting for "Available data for this site" from Time-series: Real time data to Time-series: Daily data and click GO. On the next new page that opens, scroll down to the order form and take the following steps:

About Output Format: The first three options will open graphs right on the web page. These are not useful in this chapter since the goal is to compare streamflow with precipitation. The Table option will likewise open a table right on the web page. The Tab-separated option opens a new page that you can save to your computer and later open in Excel.
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  1. Scroll down to the Merrimack River Basin and click on the station number for the Sudbury River at Saxonville, MA.
    Web site area where specific stream is selected

  2. In the box labeled Available data for this site change the selection from the default setting ( Time-series: Real-time data) to Time-series: Daily data. This will automatically take you to a new screen where an order form is available.
    This image shows the ropdown menu where one selects the type of data.

    3. In the order form box, take the following steps:

    • In the box for Available Parameters, select Discharge (Mean)
    • Under Period of Record, check the timeframe for which data is available
    • In the box for Output format select Tab-separated
    • Enter the Begin and End dates for the data you want. In this instance the entire year 2000 has been selected.
    • Click Go. The data will appear in the window of your Web browser.


Step 4-
Save the Data with a New Name

In your browser's menu bar, under File select Save As and save the data to a folder you can easily relocate, changing the file name from dv.txt to flowsud_2000.txt.

If you run into problems downloading the data, use this link flowsud_2000.txt (Text File 12kB Apr13 07) (right click on a PC or control click on a MAC) to download the streamflow data.


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