Among climatological
'bellwethers', the mountain snowpack in western North America is emerging
as a crucial yet poorly observed earth surface system. An alpine landscape
such as that seen in this photograph exhibits a host of complex behaviors
and interactions among the constituent elements of the mountain 'snow system':
weather, climate, terrain, vegetation, snowpack, and people. The CSAS has
recruited an interdisciplinary team of mountain scientists and climatologists
in an effort to foster the development of a 'snow system observation protocol'
that will, in its totality, capture changing conditions and behaviors over
time. The CSAS is also collaborating with the Consortium for Integrated Climate
Research in Western Mountains to implement such a protocol in a purpose-built
network of 'observatories' strategically located to document long-term climate
change in western North America.
