RAPID: The role of vegetation-moderated longwave radiation on the spatiotemporal distribution of snow during accumulation and ablation in mountain terrain

GSTDTAP

项目编号	1914598
	RAPID: The role of vegetation-moderated longwave radiation on the spatiotemporal distribution of snow during accumulation and ablation in mountain terrain
	James McNamara (Principal Investigator)
主持机构	Boise State University
项目开始年	2019
	2019-02-01
项目结束日期	2020-01-31
资助机构	US-NSF
项目类别	Standard Grant
项目经费	38884(USD)
国家	美国
语种	英语
英文摘要	Mountain snow provides water to millions of people in the western United States. To predict when and where melting snow will be available, water managers need to know how much snow is in the mountains and where it is located. But snow is not the same depth everywhere, so comprehensive estimates are required. Unfortunately, manual measurements of snow are too hard because of access problems, and methods to measure snow from satellites are still being developed. One challenge faced by satellites is trees. Satellites can't usually see snow through a forest. In winter 2019, NASA is testing new sensors for measuring snow from aircrafts by repeatedly flying over 13 flight regions throughout the western US. The sensors will provide snow depth and water content data approximately every 3 meters of very large areas. One flight path covers an experimental field site near Boise, Idaho were scientists have a long history of studying mountain hydrology. This project will investigate the relationships between mountain forests and snow by making new meteorological measurements in forest at the same time that NASA is collecting unprecedented snow depth data. Knowledge gained can be used to improve critical water supply forecasting methods. Mountain snow provides the dominant water supply from most of the western US; understanding the processes and properties that control the accumulation and melt of snow is crucial for science and society. The patterns of snow accumulation and melt are impacted by many climate and terrain factors that challenge scientist's abilities to model and forecast snow-derived water supply. Foremost among the challenges is the impact that forests have on the timing of melt. In some regions forests preserve snow while in others they enhance melt. Obtaining data at sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions to answer important questions about the impact of forests on snow is typically financially and logistically prohibitive. In winter 2019, the NASA SNOWEX project will obtain snow depth data at 3 m spatial resolution every two weeks through the accumulation and melt season. With additional ground-based data collected during these campaigns, it will be possible to answer some critical questions about forest-snow interactions. The objective of this research is to collect distributed longwave radiation data coincident with spatially and temporally distributed snow distribution data. Specifically, the project seeks to answer how spatially variable longwave radiation in forested and open environments impact accumulation and melt in relatively cold vs relatively warm snowy environments. An array of radiometers will be deployed to measure the spatial distribution of longwave radiation at the snow surface under forest canopies of different density through the snow accumulation and melt seasons. Coupling the high resolution NASA snow depth and water content data with distributed radiation data funded by this project fill a critical knowledge gap in the science of snow-vegetation interactions, provide training for one PhD student and two undergraduate students, and connect to a well-established education and outreach programs at Boise State University. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/213678
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	James McNamara .RAPID: The role of vegetation-moderated longwave radiation on the spatiotemporal distribution of snow during accumulation and ablation in mountain terrain.2019.