In the headwaters state of Colorado, snowpack is king. Colorado State University snow hydrologist Steven Fassnacht recently traveled to one of the most advanced snow laboratories in the world to study this important resource and how snow influences water management and climate forecasting.
In the headwaters state of Colorado, snowpack is king. Colorado State University snow hydrologist Steven Fassnacht recently traveled to one of the most advanced snow laboratories in the world to study this important resource and how snow influences water management and climate forecasting.
To allocate water wisely, water managers need to know how much is available, but estimates based on snowpack are not precise, in part because some snow processes are not well understood. The data from Fassnacht’s experiments will inform models to improve water forecasting and management.
“We’re trying to use better tools to estimate how much water is going to come out of the mountains,” Fassnacht said of snow hydrologists’ comprehensive approach combining lab results with remote-sensing, or satellite, data and observations in nature.
Fassnacht, a professor of ecosystem science and sustainability in the Warner College of Natural Resources, traveled to Japan on a fellowship sponsored by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. He spent a month conducting research with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in Yokohama and one week at a unique snow-simulating facility at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention in Shinjo.
Read more at Colorado State University
Image: Steven Fassnacht examines the fresh snow generated at the Cryospheric Environment Simulator. (Credit: Colorado State University)
