NASA tracks snowmelt to improve water management

As part of the science mission, one of the planet’s most valuable resources, Water-Nassa’s C-20A aircraft, conducted a series of seven research flights in March. Unmanned Aerial Synthetic Caliber Radar (UAVSAR) of the engine installed on the aircraft, collecting seasonal snow cover measurements for engine aircraft and estimates the freshwater contained therein.

“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the process of exploring the world,” said Starr Ginn, C-20A Project Manager at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. “As a result, it is essential to understand the distribution of seasonal snow storage and subsequent runoff.”

A dense mission loaded with snow in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, mapped accumulation of snow in dense snow. Mission scientists can use these observations to estimate the amount of water stored in that snow.

“Until recently, the best way to define the best way to accurately measure snowwater equivalents (SWE), or when freshwater was converted from snow, was a challenge,” said Shadi Oveisgharan, lead researcher of dust and scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Uavsar has been shown to be a good way to retrieve SWE data.”

Recent research has shown that snow characteristics, weather patterns, and seasonal conditions in the western United States have changed over the last few decades. These changes fundamentally changed previous expectations regarding snow monitoring and forecasting snow runoff. Dust Mission aims to better track and understand these changes and develop more accurate estimates of snow-to-water conversions and their timelines.

“We’re trying to find the best window to get snow data,” says Oveisgharan. “This estimate will help you better estimate the fresh snow available and better manage your reservoir.”

The dust mission is due to a special flight path that was fed by the C-20A, resulting in a new level of snow data accuracy. The aircraft platform Precision Autopilot (PPA) allows teams to fly very specific routes at precise altitudes, speeds and angles so that Uavsars can more accurately measure terrain changes.

“Imagine a row made on grass on a lawnmower,” said Joe Piotrovski Jr., operations engineer for the skyborne science program at NASA Armstrong. “The PPA system allows the C-20A to measure centimeters of diameter while creating these paths and measuring changes in topography.”