Oregon State University researchers have developed a new computer model for calculating the water content of snowpacks, providing an important tool for water resource managers and avalanche forecasters as well as scientists.
Oregon State University researchers have developed a new computer model for calculating the water content of snowpacks, providing an important tool for water resource managers and avalanche forecasters as well as scientists.
“In many places around the world, snow is a critical component of the hydrological cycle,” said OSU civil engineering professor David Hill. “Directly measuring snow-water equivalent is difficult and expensive and can’t be done everywhere. But information about snow depth is much easier to get, so our model, which more accurately estimates snow-water equivalent from snow depth than earlier models, is a big step forward.”
The findings, published in The Cryosphere, are related to a NASA-funded snow depth project co-led by Hill and also involving Oregon State Ph.D. student Ryan Crumley.
The project is called Community Snow Observations and is part of NASA’s Citizen Science for Earth Systems program. Snowshoers, backcountry skiers and snow-machine users are gathering data to use in computer modeling of snow-water equivalent, or SWE.
Read more at Oregon State University
Image: OSU civil engineering professor David Hill carries a snow coring device uphill near Thompson Pass, Alaska. (Credit: Ryan Crumley)
