Learn more about NASA’s SnowEx campaign with J. Andrew Gleason from the Geosciences Department at Fort Lewis College on March 3rd at the Silverton Town Hall in Silverton, CO.

SnowEx is a five-year program to improve our snow remote sensing knowledge and quantify how much water is in the snow (snow water equivalent). This data will help hydrologists and water managers understand how much water will be available the following spring, and plan for potential floods or droughts.

The SnowEx airborne campaign will fly over the Senator Beck Study Basin and other study basins across Colorado to test instrumentation, including radar and LIDAR to measure snow depth, microwave radar and radiometers to measure SWE, optical cameras to photograph the surface, infrared radiometers to measure surface temperature, and hyperspectral imagers to document snow cover and composition. Understanding how this technology works best across different conditions will help determine which combinations of instruments will work best for future deployments.

Looking to get involved? Participants with Community Snow Observations (CSO) have a chance to contribute to SnowEx by providing valuable ‘on the ground’ measurements. Learn more HERE.

J. Andrew Gleason is currently conducting research on snow hydrology for NASA’s Snow Ex project. Andy is the Senator Beck Snow Safety Director and a geosciences lecturer at Fort Lewis College. He is a former avalanche forecaster with the CAIC and geologist with the Colorado Geologic Survey.