Perennial snowfields in the Brooks Range of Alaska are critical for the ecosystem and provide caribou habitat. Caribou are a crucial food source for rural hunters. The purpose of this research is to map perennial snowfield extents using several remote sensing techniques with Sentinel-1 and 2. These include analysis of Synthetic Aperture Radar backscatter change and of optical satellite imagery. Results are compared with field data and appear to effectively detect perennial snowfield locations.

We simulate the flow of liquid water through snow and compare results to field experiments. This process is important because it controls how much and how quickly water will reach our streams and rivers in snowy regions. We found that water can flow large distances downslope through the snow even after the snow has stopped melting. Improved modeling of snowmelt processes will allow us to more accurately estimate available water resources, especially under changing climate conditions.

We conducted a series of experiments to determine how snowpack properties change with varying snowmobile traffic. Experiments were initiated at a shallow (30 cm) and deep (120 cm) snow depth at two locations. Except for initiation at 120 cm, snowmobiles significantly changed the density, hardness, ram resistance, and basal layer crystal size. Temperature was not changed. A density change model was developed and tested. The results inform management of lands with snowmobile traffic.

This manuscript presents a large latitude and elevation range analysis for snow trends in the Andes using satellite images (MODIS) snow cover product. The research approach is also significant because it presents a novel strategy for defining trends in snow persistence from remote sensing data, and this allows us to improve understanding of climate change effects on snow in areas with sparse and unevenly ground climate data.

We observed how snowmelt is transported on a hillslope through multiple measurements of snow and soil moisture across a small headwater catchment. We found that snowmelt flows through the snow with less infiltration on north-facing slopes and infiltrates the ground on south-facing slopes. This causes an increase in snow water equivalent at the base of the north-facing slope by as much as 170 %. We present a conceptualization of flow path development to improve future investigations.