Snowpack Monitoring in the Rocky Mountain West Webinar, Part 1: Observations

Thursday, February 25, 2021

11:00 a.m. to noon (MDT)

Join Western Water Assessment for Part 1 of a two-part webinar in which we share Snowpack Monitoring in the Rocky Mountain West: A User Guide. Guest speakers Karl Wetlaufer (NRCS) and Jeff Deems (CIRES) will discuss the details of snowpack observations, both in situ and remotely sensed: Where, how, and what data are collected, how are they organized, and how are they accessed? 

Karl Wetlaufer

Karl Wetlaufer is a Hydrologist and Assistant Supervisor for the Colorado office of the USDA-NRCS Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program. He was born and raised in Western Colorado, spending time in the mountains and on the rivers of Colorado and around the West. Karl attended Montana State University and received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Snow Science and Snow Hydrology. He has been working for the Snow Survey program in Colorado for seven years.

Jeff Deems

Jeff Deems went to Colorado State University where his PhD dissertation examined spatial variations in snowpack distribution and properties. Jeff works at both the National Snow and Ice Data Center and with Western Water Assessment. He is a founding member of the NASA JPL Airborne Snow Observatory Science Team. His interests and expertise in avalanche and snow hydrology research combine field data collection, modeling, and remote sensing in midlatitude mountain locations in the western US and around the globe, and actively further connections between science and management applications.

Register for Part 1 here: 

https://cuboulder.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NemAhIrQQSWZz77EbYaCqg

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the webinar in March, which will cover applications of snowpack information, particularly runoff forecasting.

Snowpack Monitoring in the Rocky Mountain West: A User Guide is a reference for water managers, decision makers, forecasters, researchers, and others who use, collect, and produce snow information. The guide outlines the fundamental characteristics of the snowpack, the processes that drive its variability over time and space, and the challenges of sampling such a dynamic resource. It describes SNOTEL, snow course, and other networks of point observations and summarizes products that provide spatial estimates of snowpack. Finally, it provides practical guidance on accessing, interpreting, and applying snow data. 

Click here to download the guide.

We will post a link to the recorded webinar on our website.

Western Water Assessment

University of Colorado Boulder

wwa@colorado.edu

http://wwa.colorado.edu

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