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...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/feart.2015.00058/full |
| _version_ | 1819077478002458624 |
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| author | Edward H. Bair Edward H. Bair Jeff eDozier Robert E. Davis Michael T. Colee Keran J. Claffey |
| author_facet | Edward H. Bair Edward H. Bair Jeff eDozier Robert E. Davis Michael T. Colee Keran J. Claffey |
| author_sort | Edward H. Bair |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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 compared to several models and of sublimation measured from lysimeter and snow pillow melt. We conclude with some thoughts on the future of CUES. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T18:57:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T18:57:50Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-03fa45ccab194bad9a31f39c9c3b553e2022-12-21T18:53:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632015-09-01310.3389/feart.2015.00058154974CUES – A Study Site for Measuring Snowpack Energy Balance in the Sierra NevadaEdward H. Bair0Edward H. Bair1Jeff eDozier2Robert E. Davis3Michael T. Colee4Keran J. Claffey5University of CaliforniaUS Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering LaboratoryBren School of Environmental Science and ManagementUS Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering LaboratoryUniversity of CaliforniaUS Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering LaboratoryAccurate 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 compared to several models and of sublimation measured from lysimeter and snow pillow melt. We conclude with some thoughts on the future of CUES.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/feart.2015.00058/fullMeteorologyRadiationSnowenergy balancesnowmelt |
| spellingShingle | Edward H. Bair 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 Frontiers in Earth Science Meteorology Radiation Snow energy balance snowmelt |
| title | 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_short | 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 |
| topic | Meteorology Radiation Snow energy balance snowmelt |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/feart.2015.00058/full |
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