Measuring Snow Can Save California Drought

Source: Snow coverage data from the Airborne Snow Observatory at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The New York Times posted an investigative piece written by Mike McPhate, Derek Watkins and Jim Wilson. Their hard work has finally paid off and they are now delivering some good news about the drought in California.

According to the article, the snow coming all the way from Sierra Nevada is crucial for California’s water supply. The melted snow runs down to all major rivers and reservoirs, making it possible to water all crops and supply fresh drinking water.

This year has been a wet winter for California which results in big amounts of snow. Just how big those resources will be are projected by the mapping project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory known as the Airborne Snow Observatory. The scientists use these measurements to predict how much water there will be from the snow, which is crucial for California’s farmers and water managers.

The article shows pictures of the snow covering Sierra Nevada and the data collected states that in some places there are 10 times as much snow than the previous year. Thomas Painter, a snow hydrologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, added that the snow keeps on coming.

The data collected from the NASA group seem to be game-changing for farmers and other water managers. The observatory is covering most of Central Sierra as of now but the hope is to be able to cover the whole, as soon as possible, to get more precise data and fill more water glasses to the top.