SNOTEL network - analysis of and future plans for the collection of additional climatic parameters at SNOTEL stations

Advancements in technology and sensor development have allowed additional climatic data to be collected in harshwinter environments associated with remote SNOTEL sites. The new generation of climatic data collectedincludes snow depth, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, humidity, soil moisture and soil temperature.Currently, several of these sensors are being evaluated in remote mountainous areas. The snow depth sensor isproving to be a reliable and dependable sensor and will produce a wealth of additional information such as dailysnowfall amounts, depth of snow on ground, and when combined with snow pillow data, snowpack density. Thispaper summarizes 1) the new generation of climatic data being collected and requested, 2) problems encountered3) products and studies utilizing the data, 4) quality control of data, and 5) future plans for installing these climaticsensors at SNOTEL sites.