The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is actively investigating the use of innovative remote-sensing techniques to estimate surface velocity and discharge of rivers in ungaged basins and river reaches that lack the infrastructure to install conventional streamgaging equipment. By coupling discharge algorithms and sensors capable of measuring surface velocity, streamgage networks can be established in regions where data collection was previously impractical or impossible. One of the remote-sensing techniques uses a Doppler (velocity) radar (QCam) mounted and integrated on a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS or drone). QCam measures the along-track surface velocity by spot dwelling in a river cross section at a vertical where the maximum surface velocity is recorded. To evaluate the extensibility of the method, five science flights were conducted on four rivers of varying size including the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. QCam surface velocities and QCam river discharges were compared to conventional streamgaging methods.

This dataset contains data collected during science flights using the drone-based QCam, which is a Doppler (velocity) radar designed to measure surface velocity and compute river discharge when channel bathymetry is known. Five science flights were conducted on four rivers including the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. Data are presented in a comma separated values (CSV) file.

This dataset contains data collected during science flights using the drone-based QCam, which is a Doppler (velocity) radar designed to measure surface velocity and compute river discharge when channel bathymetry is known. Five science flights were conducted on four rivers including the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. Data are presented in a comma separated values (CSV) file.

This dataset contains data collected during science flights using the drone-based QCam, which is a Doppler (velocity) radar designed to measure surface velocity and compute river discharge when channel bathymetry is known. Five science flights were conducted on four rivers including the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. Data are presented in a comma separated values (CSV) file.

This dataset contains survey data including wading and real-time kinematic (RTK) Global Positioning System (GPS) of water surface elevation and channel bed topography at cross section 5 (xs5) on March 20, 2018, which is adjacent to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage at Arkansas River at Parkdale, Colorado (USGS 07094500). The RTK Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys were performed using a local base station associated with the streamgage and Trimble R8 and R10 receivers while wading the channel at cross section 5. The survey data were postprocessed by performing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) correction of the static observations collected by the base and adjusting all the survey points accordingly. The survey data were exported to comma separated text (.csv) files, and the resulting file contains a survey point identification, spatial coordinates, elevations in meters above North American Vertical Datum of 1988, and a descriptive code for each point number. The data release also provides a channel cross-sectional area for each river stage in 0.01-meter increments derived from the survey data.

This dataset contains survey data including wading and real-time kinematic (RTK) Global Positioning System (GPS) of water surface elevation and channel bed topography at cross section 5 (xs5) on March 20, 2018, which is adjacent to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage at Arkansas River at Parkdale, Colorado (USGS 07094500). The RTK Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys were performed using a local base station associated with the streamgage and Trimble R8 ® and R10 ® receivers while wading the channel at xs5. The survey data were post-processed by performing the National Oceanic and Atmopheric Administration Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) correction of the static observations collected by the base and adjusting all the survey points accordingly. The survey data were exported to comma separated text (.csv) files, and the resulting file contains a survey point identification, spatial coordinates, elevations in meters above North American Vertical Datum of 1988, and a descriptive code for each point number. The data release also provides a channel cross-sectional area for each river stage in 0.01-meter increments derived from the survey data.

This dataset contains survey data including wading and real-time kinematic (RTK) Global Positioning System (GPS) of water surface elevation and channel bed topography at cross section 5 (xs5) on March 20, 2018, which is adjacent to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage at Arkansas River at Parkdale, Colorado (USGS 07094500). The RTK Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys were performed using a local base station associated with the streamgage and Trimble R8 and R10 receivers while wading the channel at cross section 5. The survey data were postprocessed by performing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) correction of the static observations collected by the base and adjusting all the survey points accordingly. The survey data were exported to comma separated text (.csv) files, and the resulting file contains a survey point identification, spatial coordinates, elevations in meters above North American Vertical Datum of 1988, and a descriptive code for each point number. The data release also provides a channel cross-sectional area for each river stage in 0.01-meter increments derived from the survey data.

This dataset includes vertical velocity profiles and river discharges at cross sections of interest acquired at the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. Velocity measurements were measured at various depths at the y-axis, which is the vertical in the cross section where the maximum velocity (umax) occurs. When wading was possible, velocity and depth measurements were recorded using a Flowtracker2 ® instrument (SonTek, 2020). When wading was not possible, stationary bed measurements were recorded using an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP)s. Data are presented in a comma separated value (.csv) file.

This dataset includes vertical velocity profiles and river discharges at cross sections of interest acquired at the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers in Colorado and the Salcha and Tanana Rivers in Alaska. Velocity measurements were measured at various depths at the y-axis, which is the vertical in the cross section where the maximum velocity (umax) occurs. When wading was possible, velocity and depth measurements were recorded using a Flowtracker2 ® instrument (SonTek, 2020). When wading was not possible, stationary bed measurements were recorded using an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP)s. Data are presented in a comma separated value (.csv) file.

This child item contains the raw acoustic Doppler velocity profiler (ADCP) measurements collected by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrographers at each site to validate Image and Radar velocimetry results. The discharge measurements were collected as part of routine and standard streamflow gaging direct measurement workflows at established USGS gaging locations. The zip file included in this release contains folders for each site. Within each folder are the associated raw ADCP files. For all field sites except BRJ, official discharge records are approved and available in the National Water Information System (NWIS) database. For those measurements with NWIS official measurements, the Site Visit Notes report is included (portable document files [PDF] starting with "SV_"). Also included for each official measurement is an empty text file with the USGS gage station ID, discharge measurement number, and database abbreviation so that users can reference the approved discharge measurement in the USGS database. For example, the Colorado River below Glenwood Springs, CO (CRG) discharge measurement was located at USGS gage number 09085100. It was measurement number 577 in the NWIS database. The text file for this measurement is named "09085100_QM577_NWIS.txt". The other sites contain similarly formatted text files. To aid in validation of streamflow and velocity, summary files that include ADCP velocities summarized on a station/vertical basis extracted from the discharge measurements are also included as *_summary.csv files.
Each Field Site is abbreviated in various files in this data release. File and folder names quickly identify which site a particular file or dataset represents. The following abbreviations are used:

• ACS: Anthracite Creek at Somerset, Colorado, USA
• BRA: Blue River below Dillon, Colorado, USA (collected in August 2023)
• BRJ: Blue River below Dillon, Colorado, USA (collected in June 2023)
• CRG: Colorado River below Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA
• CRR: Colorado River above Roaring Fork River at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA
• ERW: Eagle River below Milk Creek near Wolcott, Colorado, USA
• MCA: Maroon Creek near Aspen, Colorado, USA
• RFG: Roaring Fork at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA