WhereDoestheWaterFromSnowActuallyGo?
January26,2016
Eachwinter,asthesnowfallsacrossUtah,hopegrowsthattheaccumulatingsnowpackwilleaseourdroughtconditions,andsupplythestatewithwaterthroughouttheyear.Whilesnowfallcanhappenanywhereinthestate,itaccumulatesmostinthemountains,whereelevation,aspect,andvegetationcovervarygreatly.Naturaldisturbancessuchasfiresandinsectsfurtheralterthelandscape,andchangethewaythesnowaccumulatesandcontributestoourwatershed.
ThesearesubjectsthatinterestJordanMaxwell,graduateresearchassistantandPhDstudentatBrighamYoungUniversity.
Nowintohissecondyearofhisresearch,JordanisworkingwithfacultyadvisorDr.SamSt.ClairtoexaminethechangingsnowpackacrossgradientsofdisturbanceinUtah’salpineregions.BecauseofhisinterestinimprovingsustainabilityofwaterresourcesinUtah,hisworkreceivesfundingfromiUTAHEPSCoR,aNationalScienceFoundation-supportedprogram.
ForJordan,agoodsnowfallgiveshimtheopportunitytoskiintoremoteregionsofUtahwherehetakessnowmeasurements.WhilethismaysoundlikeaHerculeantask,heisespeciallyinterestedinfocusingonareaswherethevegetationcoverhasbeendisturbedoreliminatedbyinsectsorfiretoseeifthesechangingconditionsinfluencesnowaccumulationandwaterretention.Oneofthequestionshewantstoanswerthroughhisresearchis--howdodisturbancessuchasfireand/ortreedeathsduetobeetleattacksaffecthowmuchwaterwillbeavailabletocomethroughourfaucets?
PreliminaryresearchconductedduringJordan’sfirstyearexaminedareasofTwichellCanyonincentralUtah,andselectedSnowTelemetry(SNOTEL)sites,aswellasotherareasburnedbythe2010TwitchellCanyonfire.SNOTEL,operatedbytheU.S.DepartmentofAgriculture’sNaturalResourcesConservationService(NRCS),isanautomatedsystem,withover600sitesacross13states,whichmeasuressnowpackandrelatedclimatesensors.Hisfindingsforthisinitialresearchconfirmedthattherewasaninverserelationshipbetweenvegetation,densityoftreecover,andsnowaccumulation.
JordanMaxwell,PhDstudentatBrighamYoungUniversity.Credit:J.Maxwell
Continuingresearchconductedthiswinterwillbemorerobust,coveringalargercollectionareaandachangeinlocationpatternstogenerateamorerandomsampling.First,sectionsofforestsareidentifiedbytypeofforest,alongwithfourcategoriesoffireseveritydisturbances,includingintact,open,moderate,andseverelyburned.MeasurementswillbecollectedforSnowWaterEquivalence(SWE),whichmeasurestheamountofwatercontainedwithinthesnowpack,andSnowDepth.ThesemeasurementswillhelpindevelopingaGISsnow-waterequivalencemodeltodiscoverhowmuchwaterisinawatershed,andwhatchangesoccurafteradisturbancesuchasfire.Futureandfollow-upresearchwilllookatsnowablation.
AlsoJordanwillcomparethedataheiscollectingtotheSNOTELdatatoseehowvegetationisaffectingsnowaccumulation.HehopesthathisresearchwillprovideotherresearchersworkingwithNRCS,includingwaterandfiremanagers,amodelforpredictinghowsnowfallinanarea,andthususablewater,maybealteredbychangesinvegetation.
Bycombiningresearchresultsanddatacollectionintoamodelthatcanbeusedforpredictions,JordanhopestohelpresearcherspredicthowmuchthesnowpackiscontributingtothewatershedinUtah,aswellascontributetohelpingproperlymanageandprotectit.Hewillusehisfindingsintwomanuscriptssummarizingtheresultsofresearchanddatacollections,oneonSNOTEL,andtheotheronsnowinthepostfireconditionsofTwitchellCanyon.
Jordan’sresearchrepresentstheidealmodelofagraduatestudentsfundedbyiUTAH.Studentsengagedwithfacultyresearchmentors,suchasDr.SamSt.Clair,whoguidestudentinterestincutting-edgeeco-hydrology,environmentalengineering,socio-environmentalscienceandcoupledmodeling.
WhendescribinghislabatBYU,Jordansaysthatwhileresearchtopicsrangefrominvasiveplantmanagementinsagebrushdesertstograzingpatternsofmammals,everyoneisinterestedinthesamequestion:Howmuchwaterdowehavethisyear?Hesaysthat“waterisacentralpointinalltheirresearch,itaffectseveryone.”
iUTAHEPSCoRisamulti-institutionalprojectintegratingresearch,trainingandeducation,aimedatstrengtheningscienceforUtah’swaterfuture.
Relatedlinks:iUTAHwebsiteContact: JordanMaxwell,801-669-4768,[email protected]
SamSt.Clair,(801)422-5725,[email protected]: JeannineHuenemann,435-797-0984,[email protected]
