Can satellite snow maps, ground measurements and modeling improve water management and control in the Kings River Basin, California? Efforts toward finding the answer

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun implementation of a new operational system for monitoring snow conditions, modeling changes to the snow, and routing snowmelt runoff through the stream and reservoir systemof a watershed. This system has as its basis four functional elements, including a graphical user interface for displaying, manipulating, and analyzing data; a system for mapping snow extent and water equivalent; a spatially distributed snow model, and a grid-based runoff routing model. The user interface links snow maps and model results, as well as Corps of Engineers and other agency databases. We use measurements from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) to make maps of snow extent represented as fractional extent per pixel. When merged with interpolations of ground-based measurements, these maps estimate the spatial distribution of water equivalent. A grid-based distributed snow model makes independent estimates of water equivalent and melting, which feeds the runoff routing model. The satellite-derived product will provide the basis for updating model results. Our demonstration area, the Kings River watershed, lies in the Sierra Nevada, California. This paper describes the functional elements and integration of these elements, the current status of the project, and future directions.