Presenter(s):
Ciaran Harman, Johns Hopkins University
Jeffrey McDonnell, University of Saskatchewan
Martyn Clark, University of Calgary
Doerthe Tetzlaff, University of Aberdeen
James Shanley, United States Geological Survey
Stephen Sebestyen, USDA Forest Service
Daniele Penna, University of Florence
Catalina Segura, Oregon State University

Primary Convener:
Ciaran Harman, Johns Hopkins University

Stable water isotopes have become a powerful tool for understanding hydrologic processes, and their impact has been boosted with the rise of tools like SAS functions, ensemble hydrograph separation, and isotope-enabled watershed models. Yet, much of the high-quality isotope data collected from small catchments remains siloed, unpublished, or inconsistently formatted—limiting its reuse and synthesis potential. This town hall invites the hydrologic community to explore the creation of a shared, curated benchmark dataset of isotope and water balance data from small watersheds globally, and a community synthesis effort built around this dataset. Our goals are to (1) identify interest and priorities for such a synthesis effort, (2) build consensus around key data types, metadata standards, and modeling applications, (3) seed a collaborative effort to develop tools for dataset standardization (downscaling, gap-filling, isotope-enabled snowmelt and ET estimation, and water balance closure), and (4) gather ideas and support for synthesis activities. We especially welcome participation from researchers with stable isotope datasets, modelers interested in benchmarking and SAS function analysis, cyberinfrastructure specialists, and early-career scientists seeking collaborative synthesis opportunities. This initiative aims to catalyze a community framework that supports open science, reproducibility, and leads to breakthroughs in catchment science.