D. R. Feldman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A. C. Aiken, Los Alamos National Laboratory
W. R. Boos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
R. W. H. Carroll, Desert Research Institute
V. Chandrasekar, Colorado State University
S. Collis, Argonne National Laboratory
J. M. Creamean, Colorado State University
G. De Boer, University of Colorado Boulder
J. Deems, University of Colorado Boulder
P. J. DeMott, Colorado State University
J. Fan, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
A. N. Flores, Boise State UniversityFollow
D. Gochis, National Center for Atmospheric Research
M. Grover, Argonne National Laboratory
T. C. J. Hill, Colorado State University
A. Hodshire, Handix Scientific, LLC
E. Hulm, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
C. C. Hume, Colorado State University
R. Jackson, Argonne National Laboratory
F. Junyent, Colorado State University
A. Kennedy, University of North Dakota
M. Kumjian, Pennsylvania State University
E. J. T. Levin, Handix Scientific, LLC
J. D. Lundquist, University of Washington
J. O'Brien, Argonne National Laboratory
M. S. Raleigh, Oregon State University
J. Reithel, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
A. Rhoades, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
K. Rittger, University of Colorado Boulder
W. Rudisill, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Z. Sherman, Argonne National Laboratory
E. Siirila-Woodburn, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
S. M. Skiles, University of Utah
J. N. Smith, University of California, Irvine
R. C. Sullivan, Argonne National Laboratory
A. Theisen, Argonne National Laboratory
M. Tuftedal, Argonne National Laboratory
A. C. Varble, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
A. Wiedlea, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
S. Wielandt, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
K. Williams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Z. Xu, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2023

Abstract

The science of mountainous hydrology spans the atmosphere through the bedrock and inherently crosses physical and disciplinary boundaries: land–atmosphere interactions in complex terrain enhance clouds and precipitation, while watersheds retain and release water over a large range of spatial and temporal scales. Limited observations in complex terrain challenge efforts to improve predictive models of the hydrology in the face of rapid changes. The Upper Colorado River exemplifies these challenges, especially with ongoing mismatches between precipitation, snowpack, and discharge. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility has deployed an observatory to the East River Watershed near Crested Butte, Colorado, between September 2021 and June 2023 to measure the main atmospheric drivers of water resources, including precipitation, clouds, winds, aerosols, radiation, temperature, and humidity. This effort, called the Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL), is also working in tandem with DOE-sponsored surface and subsurface hydrologists and other federal, state, and local partners. SAIL data can be benchmarks for model development by producing a wide range of observational information on precipitation and its associated processes, including those processes that impact snowpack sublimation and redistribution, aerosol direct radiative effects in the atmosphere and in the snowpack, aerosol impacts on clouds and precipitation, and processes controlling surface fluxes of energy and mass. Preliminary data from SAIL’s first year showcase the rich information content in SAIL’s many datastreams and support testing hypotheses that will ultimately improve scientific understanding and predictability of Upper Colorado River hydrology in 2023 and beyond.

Copyright Statement

© Copyright 2023 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this Work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this Work that is determined to be "fair use" under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. All AMS journals and monograph publications are registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (https://www.copyright.com). Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement, available on the AMS website (https://www.ametsoc.org/PUBSCopyrightPolicy).

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