The Western Water Assessment (WWA), a CPO Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) team, has released “Snowpack Monitoring in the Rocky Mountain West: A User Guide.” WWA developed the guide to fill a need for more information about how snowpack is monitored in the Rocky Mountain West and how to access snowpack data. The guide is intended for water managers, decision makers, forecasters, researchers, and others who use, collect, and produce snow information.
The guide includes:
- an overview of the fundamental characteristics of Rocky Mountain snowpack, the processes that drive its variability, and the challenges of sampling such a dynamic resource;
- information about the key role of snowpack in seasonal water supply forecasting;
- descriptions of SNOwpack TELemetry (SNOTEL), snow course, and other networks of point observations;
- a summary of remote sensing systems and models for obtaining spatial estimates of snowpack; and
- practical guidance on accessing, interpreting, and applying snow data.