Oral Presentations: UC 331
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Dr. Nicky Phear
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Climate Change Studies
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The annual storage of water in the form of snow is crucial to Montana’s ecosystem and economy. Agriculture depends on the steady release of water during drier months, and many species rely on winter snowpack for protection. Studies by P.W. Mote (2003, 2005) have shown a declining snowpack in the Pacific Northwest due to increasing winter temperatures region wide. These studies are no longer up to date, and focus more regionally than Montana alone. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) uses SNOTEL sites to monitor mountain snowpack in the western United States. The data from these sites is available on the NRCS website. I have analyzed these data from the 90 SNOTEL sites in Montana for changes in Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) and temperature, to analyze how climatic changes have effected Montana snowpack.
Category
Physical Sciences
Analysis of Montana Snowpack Trends
UC 331
The annual storage of water in the form of snow is crucial to Montana’s ecosystem and economy. Agriculture depends on the steady release of water during drier months, and many species rely on winter snowpack for protection. Studies by P.W. Mote (2003, 2005) have shown a declining snowpack in the Pacific Northwest due to increasing winter temperatures region wide. These studies are no longer up to date, and focus more regionally than Montana alone. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) uses SNOTEL sites to monitor mountain snowpack in the western United States. The data from these sites is available on the NRCS website. I have analyzed these data from the 90 SNOTEL sites in Montana for changes in Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) and temperature, to analyze how climatic changes have effected Montana snowpack.