Provisional Data Information
Note: these USGS Illinois WSC real-time data web pages use an older interface and eventually will be replaced by the USGS national real-time data web pages located at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/il/nwis/rt. Please update any bookmarks to use the national real-time data pages. If you have any questions, please email gs-w-il_NWISWeb_Maintainer
Real-time data from streamflow-gaging stations are transmitted
to the USGS, Illinois
District office in Urbana through telephone lines or through the Geostationary
Operational
Environmental Satellite (GOES) data-collection system. Data are
transmitted from each station at intervals of between 1 to 3 hours and
are loaded onto the Illinois District computer system.
Real-time data available on the Illinois Water Resources
pages are provisional, which means they have not been reviewed
or edited.
These data may contain significant errors and are not citeable
until reviewed and approved by the U.S. Geological Survey. For example,
stage data may have errors due to a malfunction of the sensing or
recording equipment. Discharge data may contain errors because the
stage-discharge relation used to compute discharge may be in error
as the result of the following:
- Backwater from ice or debris such as log jams
- Aquatic growth
- Sediment movement
- Other unforeseen or unavoidable events
Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the
provisional nature of the data before basing
decisions utilizing the data that concern personal or public safety or the
conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or
operational consequences.
Data are reviewed and corrected periodically to ensure accuracy. Data from
station
record are considered provisional until they are published.
The data are usually published within 6 months of the end of the water year
(Sept. 30). Shortly after that time, the published data will be made
available on these pages as historical data.
Information concerning the accuracy of
these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be
obtained from:
John LaTour
Hydrologist
U.S. Geological Survey
Illinois Water Science Center
1201 W. University Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 344-0037 ext.9723
<jklatour@usgs.gov>
Go to the Illinois NWIS-W
Data Retrieval page
Go to the Illinois
Water Resources page
Get help with the
terms used on these pages
Other states with USGS
surface-water data retrieval pages
Comments and questions are welcome!
Please email
gs-w-il_NWIS-W_Data_Inquiries@usgs.gov.
Department of the Interior,
U.S. Geological Survey,
Illinois Water Science Center
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This page was created in real time by the NWIS-W package:
( NWIS-W: 3.01pr ; API: 3.01 ; display: 3.0 )