Temperature data collection
Obtained hourly temperature data from Gothic Research Meadow weather station (38.96°, -106.99°) operated by United States Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Status and Trends Network (EPA CASTNET, station ID GTH-161). Station located within study site with marmot colonies ranging from 100 m to 2.5 km away. Rounded each FID datapoint to nearest hour to pair with temperature from weather station.
Quantities: Hourly temperature measurements for all 1584 FID observationsDuration: Continuous hourly measurements throughout study periodConditions: All weather conditions at Gothic Research Meadow weather station
Equipment: EPA CASTNET weather station GTH-161
Snow cover data extraction
Used RMBL's spatial data platform to calculate daily estimates of fractional snow covered area (fSCA) for each colony site. Extracted data using rSDP R packages and estimated date of snow disappearance (referred to as snow melt date) as day when fSCA averaged across all pixels of each marmot colony dropped to zero.
Quantities: Daily fSCA estimates for all 11 marmot colonies across study periodDuration: Daily throughout each year of study periodConditions: Remotely sensed data collection
Equipment: RMBL spatial data platform, rSDP R packages
Precipitation data collection
Obtained average daily July precipitation data from private weather station operated by CoCoral5 (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, station ID CO-GN-18) located at 38.96°, -106.99° between 100 m and 2.5 km from marmot colonies. Focused on July as primary vegetation growth month when soil moisture throughout June affects vegetation in relatively dry years.