Title of Submission
Investigating Consistency in Snow Distribution Using a Six-Year Airborne LiDAR Time Series of Snow Depth in Tuolumne Basin, California
Degree Program
Geophysics, MS
Major Advisor Name
Hans-Peter Marshall
Type of Submission
Scholarly Poster
Abstract
Snow dominated watersheds drive western USA water supply and are increasingly important as groundwater storage is rapidly depleting and climate change is affecting snowmelt timing. This study investigates the annual consistency in snow depth distribution from Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) time series that spans a six-year period (2013-2018) in the Tuolumne Basin in the Sierra Nevada, California. Forty-five airborne lidar snow depths are analyzed to determine how spatially consistent snow depths (i.e accumulation and melt trends in drifted and scour zones). This effort moves towards a physical solution to more accurately distribute the snowfall across the terrain when lidar is limited or not existent for a particular time period.
Funding Information
NASA SnowExcampaign, USDA-ARS