Precipitation, soil moisture, and climate database, Little River Experimental Watershed, Georgia, United States

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory (SEWRL) initiated a watershed research program at the Little River Experimental Watershed in 1967. Continuous rainfall measurement across the watershed began at that time. Forty‐six precipitation gauges and three climate stations are currently in operation. Soil moisture measurements were added to 29 of the rainfall sites from 2001 to 2006. The research quantifies critical information related to long‐term and seasonal climatic relationships, hydrologic budgets for the region, water quality studies, and natural resource planning. Rainfall data from the network have been used to evaluate storm characteristics, climatic patterns, and long‐term averages for the region. Soil moisture data have been used to examine large‐scale patterns across the region and for comparison to remotely sensed data. All data are available on the SEWRL anonymous ftp site (ftp://www.tiftonars.org/).