Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies Silverton, Colorado

1. Toward A Snow System Observation Protocol & Network Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies Silverton, Colorado Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies Mission Statement: The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies enhances the interdisciplinary investigation of the alpine snow system's behavior and role in human/environment relationships by offering resources – people, information, and facilities – for field-based research and education. Premise Statement: When viewed holistically, as an Earth surface system driven by complex interactions over space and time between the atmosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and ‘anthroposphere’, the alpine snow system requires new insights into its behavior and crucial role in all mountain systems. Mountains, via their seasonal snowpacks and other cryospheric reservoirs, are the "water towers of the world." In the western United States, 50-80% of the water supply descends from the sky in the form of seasonal mountain snows. Globally, more than a billion people depend on the snow system for water supplies. Understanding the seasonal delivery and distribution of mountain snowcover, the snowpack storage and release of water, the role of ablation, the biogeochemical role of the snow system, and the affects of climate on those processes, are clearly of increasing importance to the American West and to snowmelt-watered regions everywhere. The interannual variability of the snow resource, and the possibility that climate change could cause substantial long-term changes in the distribution of seasonal snow and other cryospheric reserves of water, require a thorough analysis of snow's relationship to economies of regions and enterprises that depend on snow or its runoff. Further, as settlement in mountain regions increases, the snow system increasingly poses hazards – such as snow avalanches and floods – to residents, recreationists, travelers, and human investments. Therefore, the study of how snow system processes work and change, over space and time, is fundamental to understanding how the mountain realm's ‘music of the spheres’ influences human/environment relationships, and to developing effective policies for apportioning snowmelt resources or coping with winter hazards. Funding & Supporters: The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies was founded in 2002 with seed money from the American Avalanche Association, the Janss Family Foundation, contributions by Friends of the CSAS, Ballantine Family Charitable Fund, and in-kind donations of equipment and services. A major US Forest Service Rural Development, Forestry and Communities Grant was requested and obtained on behalf of the CSAS by the Mountain Studies Institute, our sister organization in mountain system research and education in Silverton, Colorado. Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies PO Box 190 Silverton, CO 81433 (970) 387-5080 www.snowstudies.org Board of Directors Don Bachman ~ Pres.; Bozeman, MT Arthur Ferguson, Esq. ~ V.P., Aspen, CO Chris George ~ Sec./Treas.; Silverton, CO Prof. Jeff Dozier ~ UC Santa Barbara Prof. Lee Dexter ~ Univ. Northern Arizona Executive Director Chris Landry ~ clandry@snowstudies.org • Why A Snow System Observation Network • Mountain systems and their cryospheric elements are bellwethers of global change. Furthermore, snow is increasingly recognized as a primary agent of mountain system dynamics. As both an index of climate, and a driver of processes, the mountain snow system requires a new and holistic approach to understanding its complex role. The snow system is comprised of interactions between the earth’s surface, the atmosphere, the cryosphere, the mountain hydrosphere, the biosphere, and mankind and our 'anthroposphere’, which is dependent on, and altering, them all. Further, among earth surface systems, the snow/ice mantle is unique. No other such globally extensive system exists so near to or at its phase-state 'triple point' or produces such complex behaviors in response to very small forcings from its environment. That sensitivity is increasingly viewed as an important and observable trait closely linked to the vulnerability to global change of mountain system resources and 'services'. • Given the uncertainties surrounding our current understanding of earth surface and atmospheric interactions, and the extent to which those interactions influence change in global systems upon which human welfare depends, it is imperative that science capture the behavior of bellwether earth surface systems using coherent, sustained, and holistic data collection programs. And yet, no integrative, interdisciplinary protocol dedicated to capturing the snow system's complex interactions and behaviors presently exists, and, no 'purpose-built' network implementing such a protocol is in place. The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies (CSAS) proposes to develop a Snow System Observation Protocol (SSOP) in collaboration with a diverse and interdisciplinary team of scientists and practitioners whose work spans the full spectrum of snow-driven systems and resources. That SSOP would form the foundation upon which the CSAS's vision for a North American Snow System Observation Network (NASSON) could subsequently be built. How would a snow system observational protocol, and the data it generated, contribute to understanding, monitoring, and managing mountain system behaviors? What integrative datasets should a snow system observation protocol capture? • David Inouye, Director - Graduate Program for Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology, Univ. of Maryland, College Park: how would the development of an interdisciplinary snow system observation protocol, which would include biospheric observations, contribute to research on alpine ecology and climatology, including the type of research you've conducted at Gothic, Colorado for the past 25 years? • My research has shown that variation in winter snowpack depth, and the subsequent variation in timing of snowmelt, are primary controlling variables for phenology of flowering by Rocky Mountain wildflowers. Variation in abundance of flowering for some species is also primarily controlled by snowpack depth during the previous winter (through physiological mechanisms that have yet to be discovered). There is also a significant interaction between snowpack depth (and subsequent snowmelt date) and the probability of frost damage to many species of wildflowers. The pattern of snowfall that characterized the last few decades is apparently changing in the Colorado Rocky Mountains (and perhaps more broadly), in part because of the change of phase of the North Pacific Oscillation in 1998. Together with the larger-scale influence of global climate change, this influence of the NPO and that of ENSO, mean that this is an opportune time to be increasing our knowledge of snow systems. • Jill Baron - USGS Fort Collins Science Center. Which snow-hosted or snow-influenced biogeochemical processes should a snow system observation protocol capture in order to support integrated alpine ecology research? • In remote alpine areas, most of the total annual input of atmospherically-deposited chemicals can occur as components of snow. Atmospheric deposition of chemical compounds such as acids, nutrients, organochlorines, and metals in snow affect all components of mountain ecosystems. The loss of acid-neutralizing capacity in soils from acid deposition of S and N compounds reduces soil fertility and organismal diversity, acidifies waters and alters aquatic species composition. Nitrogen and base cations additionally act as fertilizer. This can be a benefit where enhanced productivity is desired, such as in forests destined for harvest. Excess N is undesirable in natural preserves found in many mountainous areas, due to fertilization-induced changes in vegetation community composition, nutrient cycling, and ability of plants to withstand stress. Nitrogen can alter aquatic food webs and foster eutrophication. There is a pattern of biological accumulation of persistent organic pollutants in animals and foliage at high altitudes. An SSOP for snow chemistry sample collection, transport, storage, and analysis would allow comparison of nutrient, metal, and pollutant loads across sites. This would both facilitate understanding of processes influencing high alpine ecosystems, and help track the degree to which alpine systems are influenced by human activities. • Bill Simon - Animas River Stakeholders Group. Which snow parameters should be monitored to support long-term, basin scale analyses of mountains as sinks and/or emitters of atmospherically delivered or indigenous metals and/or other potential 'contaminants' to water supplies? • Areas of heavy snow accumulation serve as headwaters of the earth’s watersheds. The water released becomes a carrier of the human chemical legacy as well as providing essential elements for earth’s biota. Understanding the interaction between the deposition, accumulation, migration, and release of nutrients, trace metals, and man made organic compounds in the cryosphere has become necessary to understand ecosystem processes and assess the risks to life on our planet from atmospheric alterations. Pollutants, such as compounds of sulfur and nitrogen can directly impact nivean biota and increase the acidity of runoff, perhaps even creating pulses of highly acidic runoff that could be acutely toxic to aquatic life. Acids actively leach toxic metals from soils and host rock. Some headwater ecosystems, such as boreal forests and areas of high hydrothermal alteration, are particularly sensitive to increased acidity due to their low neutralizing capacity. Acids may lower rock and soil pH to a point where the bio-catalytic “acid rock drainage” process is initiated, which has the effect of both multiplying metal leachate concentrations and further increasing acidity through the release of hydrogen ions. In addition, several toxic metals released as emissions from human sources, such as Cadmium, Mercury, and Silver, are deposited as contaminants into the nivean environment. Perhaps the most serious known threat to biotic life comes from persistent man-made organic compounds, many of which are not only responsible for increased cancer risk but are hormone disrupters. Chemicals like PCB’s, dioxin, and organochlorines are being atmospherically deposited with snow. Many of these chemicals have been shown to reduce or even eliminate the reproductive potential of species where they have accumulated in fat and are passed along to future generations through the womb and through brbreast milk. Hormone disruptors have been shown to alter sexual differentiation, brain organization, and other physiological functions. While monitoring protocols exist for many of the contaminants in the aqueous environment, protocols still need to be developed for the nivean environment that will provide meaningful temporal and special information relating to contaminant deposition, accumulation, concentrations, exchange, migration, and fate. • Lee Dexter - Northern Arizona University, Prof. of Geography: how would the development of a 'snow system observation protocol' facilitate the development of an undergraduate (and/or graduate) 'snow system' course syllabus, and its attendant field camp? • Mountain Geographers like myself, along with many other snow-oriented scientists, commonly work and teach with a systems view to the way the cryosphere and all of nature operates. While much talk is rendered on interdisciplinary research and teaching, many barriers to the implementation of a systems approach still exist in the traditional departmentalized academic and research world. The proposed Snow Systems Observation Protocol will provide a real and a significant first step leading to a true interdisciplinary snow systems science framework. If scientists and teachers could have a purpose-built integrated data collection system and associated database at their disposal, common problems and applications would become much more clearly defined and the route to their solutions would become more apparent. From the teaching perspective, existing snow-related datasets are spotty in spatial and temporal continuity, are difficult to locate being housed in widely scattered locations, and are often difficult to integrate smoothly into a logical class structure. By having a central repository of integrated data teachers will be able to design course modules and lesson plans that will flow more seamlessly from one topic to the next. In addition, many of the courses that I teach have significant field components. It would be a boon to these classes to have access to real-time and near real time data as well as historical records from one central location. • Kelly Elder - Research Hydrologist, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO : how would the development of a 'snow system observation protocol' contribute to multi-scale snow research programs and projects, and to operational uses of snow system data? • There is a strong need for protocol standardization of snow data collection at the local, regional, national and international levels. Although international standards are unlikely at this time, there is no good reason that we do not have national standathat are applied down to the local level. Protocol standardization would facilitate research across a wide spectrum, from weather, hydrological and avalanche forecasting to climate variability and climate change research. One of the problems with integrating research and results is due to the wide variety of methodologies used to collect, analyze and store snow related data today. • Mike Meyers - National Weather Service, Grand Jct., CO: are there benefits to incorporating multi-scale weather data (and model outputs) with other 'snow system' datasets in order to assist weather forecasting and climate-change research, verification, and operations? • The alpine snow system observation protocol (SSOP) would impact the National Weather Service (NWS) operations on several different levels. From a forecasting perspective, this dataset would provide valuable information in data sparse regions of the Rocky Mountain region. Forecasters would be able to access the data in real-time, which would aid in the verification of winter storms. The SSOP data may eventually be added to other mesoscale observation networks, such as MesoWest from the University of Utah. This network would provide a unified archived dataset and historical database over the Intermountain West, which would be available for forecasters and researchers. With the increased observational network, post-analysis of the winter storms would be enhanced, which would lead to improved forecast techniques in complex terrain. Additional climatic studies would also be generated as a result of this program. This data would also be used in local meteorological mesoscale models (e.g. WRF, RAMS, MM5) with applications in both forecasting and post-analysis. Eventually, it may provide additional input for initialization of these mesoscale models. Hydrological applications would benefit from SSOP data, due to improved seasonal runoff forecasts as a result of the more detailed observational network. Finally, the NWS mission of protecting lives and property would be enhanced with forecasters being able to provide more advanced notice on dangerous winter storms as this research is incorporated into the forecast process. • Richard Armstrong - National Snow and Ice Data Center: how would a snow system dataset best compliment existing snow and ice datasets currently maintained by NSIDC (and others), and how would a snow system dataset best be made accessible (by NSIDC?) to the snow and earth system science communities? • Currently there are very few mid-latitude snow cover data sets archived at NSIDC. Most all data sets which include such parameters as snow depth, snow density, snow water equivalent and stratigraphy represent measurements made in the polar regions. At this point in time NSIDC does not even have a data category for snow and biological processes due to the near total lack of such data. The type of data proposed under the SSOP project would significantly enhance the breadth of snow cover data held at NSIDC. Once documented and archived, these data would be made available to the science community in much the same fashion as the NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment data are being distributed --------- see http://www.nsidc.org/data/clpx/. A metadata catalog and the actual data are available online via the NSIDC FTP site. • Karl Birkeland - USFS National Avalanche Center: how can a snow system observation protocol contribute to snow avalanche research and public safety operations? • Our knowledge of snow avalanches is limited by the available data. With a few notable exceptions, these data come from ski areas and other places where avalanches are actively mitigated with explosives. Thus, the observed temporal and spatial patterns of avalanche activity are strongly influenced by human decisions and the timing of mitigation measures. This complicates the already difficult task of understanding avalanche patterns and how they might be changing in response to different factors. Further, most avalanche data are based on a 24 hour clock. However, avalanches tend to respond to a "storm clock", with avalanche activity most pronounced either during or immediately after storm events that add new or windblown snow to slopes. An SSOP would establish concrete guidelines for collecting holistic datasets focusing on natural avalanche activity. This, in turn, would provide data that could improve our understanding and forecasting of snow avalanches. Such forecasting advancements will increase our ability to protect property and to save lives in snowy, mountainous areas. Colorado Utah Arizona New Mexico • “Although snow has long been the subject of scientific investigation, the vast majority of the studies have been restricted to the scope of various disciplines in the physical and biological sciences. As a result, very few works permit a full appreciation of snow cover and/or snow-covered regions as functional ecosystems. However, as snow scientists became more involved in research that required an interdisciplinary approach, and more familiar with the results of research on snow in disciplines other than their own, the need to facilitate the exchange of information and understanding of basic snow sciences across a wide range of snow-related research became apparent.” • Jones, H. G., J. W. Pomeroy, D. A. Walker, and R. W. Hoham (eds.) Snow Ecology, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2001 • “Indeed, seasonal snow cover is such an important part of the global climate system that it can be argued that all ecosystems – around the globe – are indirectly affected by snow cover because of its role as a component of the climate system.” • (Groisman and Davies, Snow cover and the climate system, In Jones et al., pp. 1-44)