Snowpack base temperatures vary during accumulation and diurnally. Their measurement
provides insight into physical, biological and chemical processes occurring at the snow/soil interface.
Recent advances in Raman-spectra instruments, which use the scattered light in a standard
telecommunications fiber-optic cable to infer absolute temperature along the entire length of the fiber,...
Glaciers are effective reservoirs because they moderate variations in runoff and
supply reliable flow during drought periods. Thus, there needs to be a clear
understanding of the influence of glacier runoff at both the basin and catchment scale.
The objectives of this study were to quantify the late summer contributions...
In November of 2006 an intense rainstorm of tropical origin, known colloquially as the "Pineapple Express," inundated the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, initiating numerous periglacial debris flows on several of the
stratovolcanoes in the Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington. These debris flows rapidly aggrade channels, deposit...
Remote sensing offers local, regional and global observations of seasonal snow, providing key information on snowpack processes. This brief review highlights advancements in instrumentation and analysis techniques that have been developed over the past decade. Areas of advancement include improved algorithms for mapping snow-cover extent, snow albedo, snow grain size,...
With improvements in both instrumentation and algorithms, methods for mapping terrestrial snow cover using optical remote sensing data have progressed significantly over the past decade. Multispectral data can now be used to determine not only the presence or absence of snow but the fraction of snow cover in a pixel....
This study investigates the effect of projected temperature increases on maritime mountain snowpack in the McKenzie River Basin (MRB; 3041 km(2)) in the Cascades Mountains of Oregon, USA. We simulated the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) in the MRB for the period of 1989-2009 with SnowModel, a spatially-distributed,...
Throughout many of the world’s mountain ranges snowpack accumulates during the winter and into the spring, providing a natural reservoir for water. As this reservoir melts, it fills streams and recharges groundwater for over 1 billion people globally. Despite its importance to water resources, our understanding of the storage capacity...
The physical controls of snowmelt in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are poorly
understood. While there have been numerous field and modeling investigations at the
plot and watershed scale, few studies have identified how the snow energy balance
(EB) components vary in importance both spatially and temporally. The identification
of how...
Mountain glaciers are receding worldwide with numerous consequences including changing hydrology and geomorphology. This study focuses on changes in glacier area on Mt. Hood, Oregon and Mt. Rainier, Washington where damaging debris flows have occurred in glaciated basins. Landsat imagery is used to map debris-free ice on a decadal time...
In the arid western United States, wildlife water developments, or ‘‘guzzlers,’’ are important water sources for wildlife, and consist of impermeable roof structures designed to intercept precipitation and small tanks for storing water. Guzzlers are typically installed in remote mid- to high-elevation basins, where precipitation data are often scarce. In...