With increasing population growth and land-use change, urban communities in the desert southwest are progressively looking to remote basins to supplement existing water supplies. Recent applications for groundwater appropriations from Dixie Valley, Nevada, a primarily undeveloped basin neighboring the Carson Desert to the east, have prompted a reevaluation of the quantity of naturally discharging groundwater.The objective of this study was to develop a new, independent estimate of groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ET) from Dixie Valley using a combination of eddy-covariance evapotranspiration measurements and multispectral satellite imagery. Mean annual groundwater ET (ETg) was estimated during October 2009-2011 at four eddy covariance sites. Two sites were located in phreatophytic shrubland dominated by greasewood and two were located on a playa. ETg estimates were scaled to the basin level by combining remotely sensed imagery with field reconnaissance and site-scale ETg estimates. Vegetation index and brightness temperature data were used to partition Dixie Valley into five discharging ET units, and scale actual and potential ETg to the basin level.ET units were constrained by the groundwater discharge area (GDA) represented by this dataset. The GDA represents the area where discharge from evaporation by open water or bare soil and transpiration from phreatophytic plants exceeds the volume of water contributed by precipitation. The GDA was delineated during field reconnaissance of the study area.

With increasing population growth and land-use change, urban communities in the desert southwest are progressively looking to remote basins to supplement existing water supplies. Recent applications for groundwater appropriations from Dixie Valley, Nevada, a primarily undeveloped basin neighboring the Carson Desert to the east, have prompted a reevaluation of the quantity of naturally discharging groundwater. The objective of this study was to develop a new, independent estimate of groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ET) from Dixie Valley using a combination of eddy-covariance evapotranspiration measurements and multispectral satellite imagery. Mean annual groundwater ET (ETg) was estimated during October 2009-2011 at four eddy covariance sites. Two sites were located in phreatophytic shrubland dominated by greasewood and two were located on a playa. Estimates were scaled to the basin level by combining remotely sensed imagery with field reconnaissance and site-scale ETg estimates. Vegetation index and brightness temperature data were used to partition Dixie Valley into five discharging ET units, and scale actual and potential ETg to the basin level. ET units are spatially constrained by a groundwater discharge area which represents the area where discharge from evaporation by open water or bare soil and transpiration from phreatophytic plants exceeds the volume of water contributed by precipitation. Each ET unit represents a generalized grouping of vegetation and soil conditions that were used as the basis of estimation of total ETg. ET units were partitioned as: playa lake, playa, sparse shrubland, moderate-to-dense shrubland, and grassland.

With increasing population growth and land-use change, urban communities in the desert southwest are progressively looking to remote basins to supplement existing water supplies. Recent applications for groundwater appropriations from Dixie Valley, Nevada, a primarily undeveloped basin neighboring the Carson Desert to the east, have prompted a reevaluation of the quantity of naturally discharging groundwater. The objective of this study was to develop a new, independent estimate of groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ET) from Dixie Valley using a combination of eddy-covariance evapotranspiration measurements and multispectral satellite imagery. Mean annual groundwater ET (ETg) was estimated during October 2009-2011 at four eddy covariance sites. Two sites were located in phreatophytic shrubland dominated by greasewood and two were located on a playa. Estimates were scaled to the basin level by combining remotely sensed imagery with field reconnaissance and site-scale ETg estimates. Vegetation index and brightness temperature data were used to partition Dixie Valley into five discharging ET units, and scale actual and potential ETg to the basin level. ET units are spatially constrained by a groundwater discharge area which represents the area where discharge from evaporation by open water or bare soil and transpiration from phreatophytic plants exceeds the volume of water contributed by precipitation. Each ET unit represents a generalized grouping of vegetation and soil conditions that were used as the basis of estimation of total ETg. ET units were partitioned as: playa lake, playa, sparse shrubland, moderate-to-dense shrubland, and grassland.

These data were created as part of a hydrologic study to characterize groundwater budgets and water quality in the Diamond Valley Flow System (DVFS), central Nevada. This dataset represents the groundwater discharge area (GDA) in the DVFS. Vegetated areas within the GDA are composed of phreatophytic shrubs with smaller areas of grassland, marshland, xeric vegetation, bare soil, and agricultural lands where phreatophytic shrubs historically were present. Vegetated areas outside the GDA are primarily composed of xeric vegetation and bare soil although very sparse phreatophytic shrubs may be present on the outer margins of the boundary. The GDA was mapped in the summer of 2011 using field reconnaissance and supporting digital data. Additional supporting field information was gathered in fall of 2014.

This dataset represents "phreatophyte areas" mapped as part of an analysis of irrigation pumping in Diamond Valley, Nevada published in 1968. The data were digitized for comparison with mapping of groundwater discharge areas done in 2011 as part of a groundwater study in these valleys published in 2016.

This dataset represents "phreatophyte areas" mapped as part of an analysis of irrigation pumping in Diamond Valley, Nevada published in 1968. The data were digitized for comparison with mapping of groundwater discharge areas done in 2011 as part of a groundwater study in these valleys published in 2016.

These data were created as part of a hydrologic study to characterize groundwater budgets and water quality in the Diamond Valley Flow System (DVFS), central Nevada. This dataset represents evapotranspiration (ET) units derived from the mean Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) calculated from two Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper scenes from the summer of 2010. ET units were defined within the DVFS groundwater discharge area (GDA) to group areas characterized by similar phreatophytic vegetation type and cover and to extrapolate site-scale groundwater ET estimates across the study area. This dataset represents three ET units: shrubland, grassland, and playa. The shrubland unit is composed of low to high density phreatophytic shrubs and bare soil while the grassland ET unit is composed of grassland, meadow, and marshland vegetation assemblages. The ET units were developed using a combination of EVI and site scale discharge measurements. The data were used to evaluate and estimate groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration in the study area. ET unit delineations reflect general spatial changes on the landscape and are not intended to be exact delineations of plant communities or soil conditions.

These data were created as part of a hydrologic study to characterize groundwater budgets and water quality in the Diamond Valley Flow System (DVFS), central Nevada. This dataset represents evapotranspiration (ET) units derived from the mean Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) calculated from two Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper scenes from the summer of 2010. ET units were defined within the DVFS groundwater discharge area (GDA) to group areas characterized by similar phreatophytic vegetation type and cover and to extrapolate site-scale groundwater ET estimates across the study area. This dataset represents three ET units: shrubland, grassland, and playa. The shrubland unit is composed of low to high density phreatophytic shrubs and bare soil while the grassland ET unit is composed of grassland, meadow, and marshland vegetation assemblages. The ET units were developed using a combination of EVI and site scale discharge measurements. The data were used to evaluate and estimate groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration in the study area. ET unit delineations reflect general spatial changes on the landscape and are not intended to be exact delineations of plant communities or soil conditions.

This dataset represents "phreatophyte areas" mapped as part of a groundwater reconnaissance effort in four valleys in central Nevada and published in 1964. The data were digitized for comparison with mapping of groundwater discharge areas done in 2011 as part of a groundwater study in these valleys published in 2016.

This dataset represents "phreatophyte areas" mapped as part of a groundwater reconnaissance effort in four valleys in central Nevada and published in 1964. The data were digitized for comparison with mapping of groundwater discharge areas done in 2011 as part of a groundwater study in these valleys published in 2016.