The North Fork of the Gunnison watershed has a slightly better understanding of its snowpack this year thanks to a new survey completed by Airborne Snow Observatories, Inc (ASO).
ASO utilizes airborne lidar technology paired with field measurements to determine the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in places not measured by conventional SNOTEL sites. ASO performed two airborne surveys for the North Fork this spring, the first on March 27th to capture the peak snowpack, and the second on April 27th to measure the melting snowpack. The data gathered can be used to inform runoff predictions, reservoir storage and water management operations. The North Fork reports and data can be found on ASO’s website at: https://data.airbornesnowobservatories.com/basin/north-fork-gunnison
WSCC also assisted ASO in their data collection by sending out a small team of volunteers to do on the ground snowpack density field measurements at the same time as both flyovers, serving to provide a comparison to the fly-over data collected. Utilizing a luggage scale and a measurement tool made from plastic piping, they took measurements on McClure Pass near an established SNOTEL site on both inclines and level ground. During WSCC’s April Watershed Stewardship Committee meeting, Jeff Deems, founder of Airborne Snow Observatories, Inc. presented the recent ASO snow survey results for the North Fork of the Gunnison watershed and the group discussed how lidar data is changing the way we understand snowpack and snow density distribution.
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