The Best Snowpack Books of All Time

Excerpt from The Release of Water From Forest Snowpacks During Winter. Figure 1.-cedar-hemlock eco system surrounds lysimeter station 42. In this study, six lysimeter stations are grouped in pairs as follows: station 39 adjacent to station 40 and station 45 adjacent to station 42, both pairs situated on the north aspect; and station 49 adjacent to station 47 on the south aspect. A distance no greater than 300 feet separates the stations in each pair. The three pairs were placed into Operation in 1967, 1968, and 1969 in the order mentioned.

In relation to forest cover, station 39 is located in the northeast quadrant of a small, manmade clearing; stations 45 and 49 are situated midway across long, so-foot - wide clearcut strips. These stations represent the situation termed small Opening. The forest condition includes stations 40, 42, and 47 positioned well into the undisturbed forest. These stations lie within the drip zone of a major tree species but away from the annular zone of the tree bole. Other descriptive details of each lysimeter station appear in table 1. Weather stations provide precipitation and temperature data to complement the lysimeter information. Each weather station is mounted on an elevated platform (fig. Situated near the lysimeter. In the forest, the weather station is located underneath a tree with a canopy configuration similar to that over the lysimeter; in the small open ing, the station is nearly the same distance from the bordering trees as is the lysimeter. The precipitation instruments are incapable of separating rain from snow; therefore, observed rainfall (in the small opening) is determined indirectly by comparing the catch of precipitation with ambient air temperature recorded in a standard (ventilated) shelter. It is assumed that rain occurs if the temperature is greater than 33° F. There are exceptions when snow falls during a storm, although the temperature indicates rain or Vice versa. Figure 2.-typical lysimeter pan with rod-frame, sliding collar, and polyethylene bag attached. Inclination of collar is par allel to angle of ground surface. About the Publisher. Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A predominate feature of climate in high latitude regions is the presence of a seasonal snowpack. The snowpack is a major influence on hydrology, vegetation, and faunal communities.

A main objective of the Central Alaska Network’s (CAKN) snowpack monitoring program is to record long-term trends in snow by engaging in an interagency agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to survey snow courses, aerial snow markers, and install and maintain recording precipitation gauges (as part of the snow telemetry [SNOTEL] network) in all three CAKN parks, including Denali National Park and Preserve (DENA), Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST), and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve (YUCH). This document details the snowpack for 2008-2009.

A main objective of the CAKN snowpack monitoring program is to record long-term trends in snow and monitor changes in the extent, duration, and character of the seasonal snow cover. This is accomplished through an interagency agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to survey snow courses and aerial snow markers and to install and maintain Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) sites in all three CAKN parks. The SNOTEL sites have proven to be the most accurate instrumented sites to document all forms of precipitation in Alaska, including snowfall which is difficult to measure in remote locations.

The agreement between the NPS and NRCS includes data dissemination and archiving. These summary reports compile snowpack data for the central Alaska region and are produced annually. The timing of the report follows the end of the water year which runs from October 1 through September 30. The data provided in this report comes almost exclusively from the NRCS Alaska Snow, Water and Climate Services web based server (NRCS 2012).