Marmot Creek feeds the Kananaskis River and the Bow River system from the Rocky Mountains, Alberta. Its area is 14 km² and it is primarily covered with montane and subalpine forest with alpine tundra ridgetops. The basin has seasonally frozen soils. The basin has been subject to intensive hydrometeorological studies since the International Hydrological Decade. It has 8 permanent meteorological stations at elevations from 1450 m to 2500 m collecting precipitation, snow depth, soil moisture, soil temperature, short and longwave radiation, air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and turbulent fluxes of heat and water vapour. Observations of groundwater levels and streamflow are made by the federal and provincial governments.

Marmot Creek Research Basin was established as an experimental basin in 1962 by the Governments of Canada and Alberta, as part of the International Hydrological Decade. It became an outdoor research laboratory to investigate the principles of mountain hydrology and the influences of forest management on streamflow generation, under the leadership of the Canadian Forestry Service. This program was closed down in 1986, on development of the Nakiska Ski Resort.

In 2005, the basin was reactivated by the University of Saskatchewan, University of Calgary and Environment Canada: since then it has supported a wide variety of research in process hydrology, climatology, ecohydrology and hydrological modelling, underpinning the next generation of models and forest-management strategies.

The Coldwater Laboratory was established in 2009 at the nearby University of Calgary Barrier Lake Field Station, to maintain and develop research momentum in the basin. With its long-term records of high altitude streamflow, precipitation, snowpack, groundwater, vegetation and mountain meteorology observations, it continues to provide a unique asset to support the improved understanding of environmental change in the Canadian Rockies. Projects currently focus on mountain snow processes, hydrochemistry, hydrological and hydrogeological modelling (including analysis of hydro-climatic trends and sensitivity to climate change), and the hydrological impacts of changes in forest cover.


See also
https://research-groups.usask.ca/hydrology/science/research-facilities/marmot-basin.php

7 main automatic weather stations with additional weather stations in a small forest clearing measuring
-Air t,
-RH,
-snow depth,
-soil t,
-moisture, and
-electric conductivity
for the shorter period than that from the main AWS

CRHM (Cold Regions Hydrological Model)

Vegetation Map
Forest cover type map from Alberta Forest Service (1963), SPOT5 (July 2007)

Soil Map
No

Soil Depth Information
Yes

Digital Elevation Map (and Spatial Resolution)
Yes, 1 m Lidar and 8 m resampled Lidar

https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/11/455/2019/

Datasets:
https://gwfnet.net/Metadata/Index/T-2024-11-28-x1vT4gVX6nUqZKPphXj7x18A

Real-time Data:
Centennial Ridge:
http://giws1.usask.ca/cfh/Marmot/Nakiskachart.html

Upper Clearing:
http://giws1.usask.ca/cfh/Marmot/UpperClearingchart.html

Fisera Ridge:
http://giws1.usask.ca/cfh/Marmot/Fiserachart.html

Vista View:
http://giws1.usask.ca/cfh/Marmot/VistaViewchart.html

Hay Meadow:
http://giws1.usask.ca/cfh/Marmot/HayMeadowchart.html