After more than a century of attempting to measure the Sierra snowpack, with less than accurate results, NASA has developed a new technology that can provide the “snow-water equivalent,” or the total volume of water stored in the watershed at that point. [1] NASA wants to take it one step further and measure the snowpack from space globally with a project known as “SnowEx.”[2]
Measuring the melting snowpack supplies from the Sierra Nevada is critical in understanding water supply in California. The mountain range stretches 400 miles along the southeast border of California suppling up to a third of the state’s water. The supply is dwindling as climate change brings prolonged droughts and widespread flooding.
How does it currently work? A plane covers the terrain, banks 180 degrees, and then emits laser beams hundreds of thousands of times per seconds in a lateral sweep. They take the measurement of the time it takes for the light to reflect off the surface and return to the sensor to plot out a 3-D map of the snow surface. [3]
The data helps water authorities to better manage the water charging hydroelectric power plants, feeding towns and cities, and nourishing one of the United States’ most productive agricultural regions. If SnowEx is successful we could benefit on a global level.
[1] Temple, James. NASA’s building new tools to manage water as climate dangers grow. 28 05 2018. Web. 12 06 2018.
[2] Keesey, Lori J. NASA’s SnowEx Challenges the Sensing Techniques…‘Until They Break’. 21 2 2017. Web. 12 6 2018.
[3] Temple, James. NASA’s building new tools to manage water as climate dangers grow. 28 05 2018. Web. 12 06 2018.
Photo credit: Pxhere
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