CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada
Accurate measurement and modeling of the snowpack energy balance are critical to understanding the terrestrial water cycle. Most of the water resources in the western US come from snowmelt, yet statistical runoff models that rely on the historical record are becoming less reliable because of a chang...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e 2023-05-15T15:55:50+02:00 CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada Edward H. Bair Jeff eDozier Robert E. Davis Michael T. Colee Keran J. Claffey 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2015.00058 https://doaj.org/article/03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/feart.2015.00058/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2015.00058 https://doaj.org/article/03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 3 (2015) Meteorology Radiation Snow energy balance snowmelt Science Q article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2015.00058 2022-12-31T12:24:38Z Accurate measurement and modeling of the snowpack energy balance are critical to understanding the terrestrial water cycle. Most of the water resources in the western US come from snowmelt, yet statistical runoff models that rely on the historical record are becoming less reliable because of a changing climate. For physically based snow melt models that do not depend on past conditions, ground based measurements of the energy balance components are imperative for verification. For this purpose, the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) established the CUES snow study site (CRREL/UCSB Energy Site, http://www.snow.ucsb.edu/) at 2940 m elevation on Mammoth Mountain, California. We describe CUES, provide an overview of research, share our experience with scientific measurements, and encourage future collaborative research. Snow measurements began near the current CUES site for ski area operations in 1969. In the 1970s, researchers began taking scientific measurements. Today, CUES benefits from year round gondola access and a fiber optic internet connection. Data loggers and computers automatically record and store over 100 measurements from more than 50 instruments each minute. CUES is one of only five high altitude mountain sites in the Western US where a full suite of energy balance components are measured. In addition to measuring snow on the ground at multiple locations, extensive radiometric and meteorological measurements are recorded. Some of the more novel measurements include scans by an automated terrestrial LiDAR, passive and active microwave imaging of snow stratigraphy, microscopic imaging of snow grains, snowflake imaging with a multi-angle camera, fluxes from upward and downward looking radiometers, snow water equivalent from different types of snow pillows, snowmelt from lysimeters, and concentration of impurities in the snowpack. We give an example of terrain-corrected snow albedo measurements ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Earth Science 3 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
Meteorology Radiation Snow energy balance snowmelt Science Q |
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Meteorology Radiation Snow energy balance snowmelt Science Q Edward H. Bair Jeff eDozier Robert E. Davis Michael T. Colee Keran J. Claffey CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada |
topic_facet |
Meteorology Radiation Snow energy balance snowmelt Science Q |
description |
Accurate measurement and modeling of the snowpack energy balance are critical to understanding the terrestrial water cycle. Most of the water resources in the western US come from snowmelt, yet statistical runoff models that rely on the historical record are becoming less reliable because of a changing climate. For physically based snow melt models that do not depend on past conditions, ground based measurements of the energy balance components are imperative for verification. For this purpose, the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) established the CUES snow study site (CRREL/UCSB Energy Site, http://www.snow.ucsb.edu/) at 2940 m elevation on Mammoth Mountain, California. We describe CUES, provide an overview of research, share our experience with scientific measurements, and encourage future collaborative research. Snow measurements began near the current CUES site for ski area operations in 1969. In the 1970s, researchers began taking scientific measurements. Today, CUES benefits from year round gondola access and a fiber optic internet connection. Data loggers and computers automatically record and store over 100 measurements from more than 50 instruments each minute. CUES is one of only five high altitude mountain sites in the Western US where a full suite of energy balance components are measured. In addition to measuring snow on the ground at multiple locations, extensive radiometric and meteorological measurements are recorded. Some of the more novel measurements include scans by an automated terrestrial LiDAR, passive and active microwave imaging of snow stratigraphy, microscopic imaging of snow grains, snowflake imaging with a multi-angle camera, fluxes from upward and downward looking radiometers, snow water equivalent from different types of snow pillows, snowmelt from lysimeters, and concentration of impurities in the snowpack. We give an example of terrain-corrected snow albedo measurements ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Edward H. Bair Jeff eDozier Robert E. Davis Michael T. Colee Keran J. Claffey |
author_facet |
Edward H. Bair Jeff eDozier Robert E. Davis Michael T. Colee Keran J. Claffey |
author_sort |
Edward H. Bair |
title |
CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada |
title_short |
CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada |
title_full |
CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada |
title_fullStr |
CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada |
title_full_unstemmed |
CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra Nevada |
title_sort |
cues – a study site for measuring snowpack energy balance in the sierra nevada |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2015.00058 https://doaj.org/article/03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e |
genre |
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory |
genre_facet |
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 3 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/feart.2015.00058/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2015.00058 https://doaj.org/article/03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2015.00058 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
3 |
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1766391320447811584 |