Diary Updates 2006-2007

April 2007 Field Campaigns Epitomize Interdisciplinary Snow System Science

 

The team tours into upper Senator Beck Basin on April 16 for a full day of snowpack profiling, radar measurements, spectrometry measurements, and snow sample collection for chemical analyses.  Each type of data collected during the day was useful to all of the research agendas represented by the team, which included two PhD candidates, one MSc student, and two undergraduates.

Michael Barton prepared a snow pit as the radar team heads for Peak 13,510’ at the top of Senator Beck Basin. 

 

Chris Landry begins the formal snow profiling process in Michael’s immaculately prepared snow pit.

   

Tom Painter explains his measurements of optical properties of snow grains to visiting U.S. Forest Service staff from the Ouray Ranger District of the Uncompahgre National Forest, our “landlords” at Senator Beck Basin, and other fine points of his dust-in-snow research work. 

Hans-Peter Marshall and Andy Gleason performed some 750,000 measurements of snow depth and density over several days using Marshall’s highly portable radar technology, under development with NASA funding.

    

The team, descending from the Basin from left to right: Corey Lawrence, Andrew Temple, Andy Gleason, Hans-Peter Marshall, Tom Painter, Maureen Cassidy, Michael Barton, Jeff Deems, Andy Barrett, Sara Simonson, James McCreight, and Ezequiel Chalbaud.