ABSTRACT:

The 10k research site is located by the 10K Trailhead parking lot in the Cibola National Forest. This area is at the beginning of the Canadian/Hudsonian Zone of the Eastern Sandia Mountains, which is part of the Arizona/New Mexico Mountains Ecoregion. The plot is roughly 1,200m^2 and runs east-west with an open area (~400 m^2) on the eastern end and a forest stand (~800 m^2) located uphill on the western end. The hill has an eastern aspect with an 18 degree slope. The forest vegetation in this area predominantly consists of spruce, fir, and aspen trees.

ABSTRACT:

The study site for this research is in the Dry Lake watershed, a small watershed that is ideal for studying snow processes in northern Colorado, USA. The watershed is ~0.25 km2 with year-round, hourly data collection from a SNOTEL station and a remote automated weather station (RAWS) located within the extents of the watershed, respectively. A small stream runs from the northeast to the southwest, with an outlet near the SNOTEL station. The lower area consists of forested conifer that is populated with ferns in the summer months and the lower portion of the south facing slope is populated by deciduous aspen canopy.

ABSTRACT:

In the winter and spring of 2023, seven transects were established to collect data at varying positions on the north and south facing slopes as well as the flat terrain. The spatial distribution of these transects were designed to capture changes in snow properties related to aspect and position on slope including the base, middle, and top of slopes. The flat terrain transect was taken by traversing a circle around the SNOTEL station whereas all other transects were ~20 m in length perpendicular to the fall line (i.e., parallel to slope contours). These data were collected approximately once every month from January to May, resulting in 5 survey dates. All transects included GPR data collected with surface-coupled, common offset GPR units pulled over the snow surface. Following the GPR, depth measurements were collected in the track of the GPR at 2-meter spacing. Snow pits were also dug when time allowed to estimate bulk snow density.

ABSTRACT:

In the winter and spring of 2023, seven transects were established to collect data at varying positions on the north and south facing slopes as well as the flat terrain. The spatial distribution of these transects were designed to capture changes in snow properties related to aspect and position on slope including the base, middle, and top of slopes. The flat terrain transect was taken by traversing a circle around the SNOTEL station whereas all other transects were ~20 m in length perpendicular to the fall line (i.e., parallel to slope contours). These data were collected approximately once every month from January to May, resulting in 5 survey dates. All transects included GPR data collected with surface-coupled, common offset GPR units pulled over the snow surface. Following the GPR, depth measurements were collected in the track of the GPR at 2-meter spacing. Snow pits were also dug when time allowed to estimate bulk snow density.

ABSTRACT:

In the winter and spring of 2023, seven transects were established to collect data at varying positions on the north and south facing slopes as well as the flat terrain. The spatial distribution of these transects were designed to capture changes in snow properties related to aspect and position on slope including the base, middle, and top of slopes. The flat terrain transect was taken by traversing a circle around the SNOTEL station whereas all other transects were ~20 m in length perpendicular to the fall line (i.e., parallel to slope contours). These data were collected approximately once every month from January to May, resulting in 5 survey dates. All transects included GPR data collected with surface-coupled, common offset GPR units pulled over the snow surface. Following the GPR, depth measurements were collected in the track of the GPR at 2-meter spacing. Snow pits were also dug when time allowed to estimate bulk snow density.

ABSTRACT:

The Navajo River, located in the southern San Juan Mountains, is a tributary of the San Juan Chama River. The Navajo River catchment is one of three catchments included in the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP, Bureau of Reclamation), which diverts water to the Rio Chama via the Azotea tunnel. This system supplies a firm yield (annual allocation) of 96,200 acre-feet to water users in New Mexico. The Oso Diversion, which diverts Navajo River water, contributes about 70% of the project water. To meet the snow monitoring and water supply forecast needs of the SJCP project, a snow survey research area has been established in the catchment. This research area includes four snow survey sites and two weather stations. This site is also used to assess satellite snow measurements to improve snow water supply forecasting for the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program (Bureau of Reclamation).

ABSTRACT:

The Navajo River, located in the southern San Juan Mountains, is a tributary of the San Juan Chama River. The Navajo River catchment is one of three catchments included in the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP, Bureau of Reclamation), which diverts a firm yield (annual allotment) of 96,200 acre-feet water users in New Mexico. To meet the snow monitoring and water supply forecast needs of the SJCP project, a snow survey research area has been established in the catchment. This research area currently includes four snow survey sites, which contain a total of two snow pits and five snow depth transects. Two survey sites include snowtography poles with game cameras monitoring snow depth and temperature buttons collecting snowpack temperature data. During the 2021-2022 winter season, data from three snow depth transects and two snow pits were collected monthly between January and April.

ABSTRACT:

The Navajo River, located in the southern San Juan Mountains, is a tributary of the San Juan Chama River. The Navajo River catchment is one of three catchments included in the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP, Bureau of Reclamation), which diverts a firm yield (annual allotment) of 96,200 acre-feet water users in New Mexico. To meet the snow monitoring and water supply forecast needs of the SJCP project, a snow survey research area has been established in the catchment. This research area currently includes four snow survey sites, which contain a total of two snow pits and five snow depth transects. Two survey sites include snowtography poles with game cameras monitoring snow depth and temperature buttons collecting snowpack temperature data. This site is also used to assess satellite snow measurements to improve snow water supply forecasting for the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program (Bureau of Reclamation). Snow depth retrievals were processed using a retrieval algorithm that utilizes single-look complex (SLC) data from the Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite and saved in a NetCDF file.

ABSTRACT:

The Navajo River, located in the southern San Juan Mountains, is a tributary of the San Juan Chama River. The Navajo River catchment is one of three catchments included in the San Juan Chama Project (SJCP, Bureau of Reclamation), which diverts a firm yield (annual allotment) of 96,200 acre-feet water users in New Mexico. To meet the snow monitoring and water supply forecast needs of the SJCP project, a snow survey research area has been established in the catchment. This research area currently includes four snow survey sites, which contain a total of two snow pits and five snow depth transects. Two survey sites include snowtography poles with game cameras monitoring snow depth and temperature buttons collecting snowpack temperature data.