Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Alaska District's Hydraulics and Hydrology Section and the Geotechnical and Engineering Services Branch attended a snowpack measurement training on Dec. 19 on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
Rosie Duncan, hydrologist, led the class where she showed the team how to use federal snow sampling tubes. Developed in the 1940s, the system uses an aluminum snow tube and a spring scale to determine snow water equivalence. Surveyors take five to 10 measurements at regular intervals along a snow course to determine how much water is stored in the snowpack. For the past 17 years, the district has measured snow pack on Ship Creek by performing surveys in the basin in the spring. The data is provided to the National Resource Conservation Service who assesses the water supply of the basin for the following year and, most importantly, for irrigation supply concerns. The district also partners with NRCS to measure seven sites in the Chena River basin. The information gives a sense of the amount of water to expect during the spring snow melt, allowing the team to prepare for any potential operations of the Moose Creek Dam during the season.
It is still early in the snow accumulation season and is not a good indicator of spring melt flooding. In Alaska, that information is unknown until March and April.
(U.S. Army photo by Rachel Napolitan)
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2022 17:54 |
| Photo ID: | 7570016 |
| VIRIN: | 221219-A-QR280-1030 |
| Resolution: | 3008x2008 |
| Size: | 3.52 MB |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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