STREAM TRACKER: CROWD SOURCING AND REMOTE SENSING TO MONITOR STREAM FLOW INTERMITTENCEUP TO 85% OF STREAM CHANNELS GLOBALLY DO NOT HAVE CONTINUOUS FLOW IN TIME AND/OR SPACE. THESE INTERMITTENT STREAMS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN WATER AND NUTRIENT TRANSPORT YET THEIR DYNAMICS ARE STILL LARGELY UNSTUDIED. INTERMITTENT STREAMS TEND TO BE SMALL AND HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO DISTURBANCE AND EVEN THE BEST AVAILABLE STREAM MAPS POORLY PREDICT WHERE THESE STREAMS ARE LOCATED OR CORRECTLY CLASSIFY THEM. THIS PROPOSAL INTRODUCES STREAM TRACKER A COMPREHENSIVE INTERMITTENT STREAM MONITORING NETWORK THAT COMBINES CITIZEN SCIENCE IN SITU SENSORS AND REMOTE SENSING TO EXPAND THE SCOPE OF INTERMITTENT STREAM MEASUREMENTS AND IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF WHEN WHERE AND WHY THESE STREAMS FLOW. IN THE PROTOTYPE PHASE WE WILL DEVELOP THE COMPONENTS OF THE STREAM TRACKER NETWORK IN OUR LOCAL WATERSHED THE CACHE LA POUDRE IN NORTHERN COLORADO. THESE COMPONENTS INCLUDE (1) CITIZEN SCIENCE DATA COLLECTION ON PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF FLOW OVER TIME IN STREAMS THROUGHOUT THE WATERSHED USING THE CITSCI.ORG OPEN SOURCE CITIZEN SCIENCE PLATFORM (2) TESTING A SUITE OF LOW COST IN SITU SENSORS INCLUDING CAMERAS TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE CONDUCTIVITY SENSORS THAT CAN DETECT PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF FLOW IN REMOTE LOCATIONS AND (3) DEVELOPMENT AND CALIBRATION OF ALGORITHMS FOR DETECTING STREAMFLOW PRESENCE OR ABSENCE WITH LANDSAT DATA CALIBRATED TO THE CITIZEN SCIENCE AND SENSOR DATA. IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE WE WILL EXPAND THE NETWORK WITH A FOCUS ON (1) RECRUITING CITIZEN SCIENTISTS AND PARTNERS IN KEY WATERSHEDS (2) DISTRIBUTING LOW-COST SENSORS TO CITIZEN SCIENTISTS FOR MASS DEPLOYMENT IN KEY EXPANSION WATERSHEDS AND (3) RECONSTRUCTING HISTORICAL FLOW INTERMITTENCE PATTERNS IN WATERSHEDS WHERE LANDSAT RECONSTRUCTION OF STREAMFLOW INTERMITTENCE IS FEASIBLE. THE COMBINATION OF CITIZEN SCIENCE DATA COLLECTION SENSORS AND REMOTE SENSING WILL ADDRESS KEY SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT INTERMITTENT STREAMS INCLUDING (1) HOW CAN WE BEST CLASSIFY TYPES OF STREAMFLOW INTERMITTENCE? (2) HOW DO CLIMATE GEOLOGY SOILS LAND COVER WATER USE AND WATERSHED PHYSIOGRAPHY INTERACT TO AFFECT STREAMFLOW INTERMITTENCE? (3) CAN WE IMPROVE MAPS OF FLOW INTERMITTENCE IN STREAM NETWORKS? AND (4) HOW IS STREAMFLOW CHANGING OVER TIME?. THESE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT INTERMITTENT STREAM FUNCTION CAN INFORM HYDROLOGIC APPLICATIONS SUCH AS FLOW PREDICTION AND DROUGHT RESEARCH BIOLOGICAL AND CONSERVATION APPLICATIONS RELATED TO AQUATIC AND RIPARIAN SPECIES AND LAND USE AND WATER QUALITY REGULATIONS. THE STREAM TRACKER NETWORK WILL PROMOTE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF INTERMITTENT STREAMS AND ENGAGEMENT IN WATERSHED STEWARDSHIP AND IT WILL ENABLE MORE COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH ON INTERMITTENT STREAM DYNAMICS THAN IS CURRENTLY POSSIBLE WITH EXISTING MONITORING NETWORKS. THE NETWORK WILL BUILD ON PARTNERSHIPS WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDING WATER UTILITIES LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS CAMPS AND SCHOOLS AND RESEARCHERS WHO CAN SERVE AS NODES FOR RECRUITING CITIZEN SCIENTISTS. ENEWSLETTERS SOCIAL MEDIA AND OPEN HOUSE EVENTS WILL HELP EXPAND THE NETWORK AND RETAIN AND ENGAGE VOLUNTEERS. FOR RESEARCH THE NETWORK WILL ENABLE US TO DEVELOP NEW REMOTE SENSING APPROACHES FOR RECONSTRUCTING FLOW INTERMITTENCE IMPROVE CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES FOR INTERMITTENT STREAMS AND EXPLORE THE FACTORS THAT CONTROL FLOW INTERMITTENCE AND ITS VARIABILITY OVER SPACE AND TIME. THE NETWORK CAN ULTIMATELY LEAD TO IMPROVED STREAMFLOW MAPPING THAT CAN BE DYNAMICALLY UPDATED AS STREAMS CHANGE. AS THE PROJECT PROGRESSES WE WILL DEVELOP ENHANCED SERVICE OPTIONS AND USER FEE STRUCTURES THAT WILL ENABLE TO PROJECT TO CONTINUE AT THE END OF THE GRANT CYCLE AS AN ONGOING NETWORK PROMOTING RESEARCH AND STEWARDSHIP ON INTERMITTENT STREAMS.