Oral presentation given by Elizabeth Burakowski at the 2012 Eastern Snow Conference in Claryville, NY 5-7 June 2012. Awarded the Wiesnet Medal for Best Student Paper.

1. Putting the Capital ‘A’ in CoCoRaHS:
An Experimental Program to Measure
Albedo Using the
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network
Photo: Midge Eliassen Photo: Michelle Day Photo: Midge Eliassen
Elizabeth Burakowski
Jack Dibb
Mary Stampone
Cameron Wake

2. Putting the Capital ‘A’ in CoCoRAHS:
An Experimental Program to Measure
Albedo Using the
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network
^
Albedo
Photo: Midge Eliassen Photo: Michelle Day Photo: Midge Eliassen
Elizabeth Burakowski
Jack Dibb
Mary Stampone
Cameron Wake

3. Outline
• Motivation
• Research Objectives
• The CoCoRAHS Albedo Network
• Results
• Future Work
• Acknowledgements
3

4. Motivation
Me
Twin
sister
Life-long obsession with albedo that began in 1986 4

5. Motivation
• State-wide effort to measure the impact of land
use, population growth, and climate on New
Hampshire’s ecosystems
• Link between land cover and climate:
– Climate impacts of historical deforestation
5
Foster et al., 2010. Wildlands and Woodlands

6. Motivation
• State-wide effort to measure the impact of land
use, population growth, and climate on New
Hampshire’s ecosystems
• Link between land cover and climate:
– Climate impacts of historical deforestation
– Greater sensitivity in shortwave energy balance
through changes in winter albedo (Robinson
&Kukla, 1985)
6
Betts and Ball 1997

7. Motivation
• State-wide effort to measure the impact of land
use, population growth, and climate on New
Hampshire’s ecosystems
• Link between land cover and climate:
– Deforestation  greater sensitivity in shortwave
energy balance through changes in winter albedo
(Robinson &Kukla, 1985)
7

8. Motivation
• State-wide effort to measure the impact of land
use, population growth, and climate on New
Hampshire’s ecosystems
• Link between land cover and climate:
– Deforestation  greater sensitivity in shortwave
energy balance through changes in winter albedo
(Robinson &Kukla, 1985)
• Embrace CoCoRaHS mission to:
1. Use low-cost measurement tools
2. Provide training and education
3. Collect, record, and communicate albedo data for
educational and research applications
8

9. Research Objectives
• Establish a volunteer network of citizen
scientists to collect daily measurements of:
1. surface albedo
2. snow depth
3. snow density
• Measure surface albedo for a variety of land
cover types
9

10. CoCoRaHS Albedo Network
• 18 CoCoRAHS
observers
• 15 observers able to
report regularly (4-7
times/week)
• 12 grass lawn
• 1 bare soil
• 1 rooftop deck
• 1 pasture
• Mostly retired
individuals
• Actively seeking school
groups for 2012/2013
10

11. Thompson Farm Research Station
Durham, NH
11

12. Thompson Farm Research Station
Durham, NH
• Daily CoCoRAHS
Measurements
• Comparison of Kipp
and Zonen CMA6 30-
min average albedo
vs
12

13. CoCoRaHS Albedo Network
CoCoRAHS Albedo Kit
• Apogee MP-200
Pyranometer with custom
leveling boom
• 2-ft and 4-ft aluminum snow
tubes
• Hanging digital scale
• Spatula
• Yardstick
• Field Notebook
13

14. CoCoRaHS Albedo Network
FieldSpec4
Spectroradiometer
• Measure snow-covered
and snow-free spectral
albedo at CoCoRAHS
and UNH Thompson
Farm sites
• Opportunity to test out
instrument before
purchasing
14

15. Results: Albedo
15

16. Results: Albedo & Snow Depth
16

17. Results: Albedo & Snow Density
R=0.41
17

18. Results: Spectral Albedo

19. Conclusions
• Apogee MP-200 low-cost albedometer comparable to
Kipp and Zonen CMA6
• Albedo increases logarithmically with snow depth
• Albedo decreases linearly with snow density, likely due
to increases in grain size
• CoCoRAHS Albedo shows great promise to provide
useful albedo and snow data for research and
education applications
Photo: Midge Eliassen Photo: Midge Eliassen 19

20. Future Work
• Evaluate climate impacts of snow cover on forested
and non-forested landscapes
• Compare snow density collected with snow
pillow, snow tube and scale, snow tube and melt
methods (UNH Undergrad Ethan Chase)
• Climate and Land Surface Modeling
- Weather, Research, and Forecasting (WRF) Model
- Community Land Model (CLM4.0)
• Snow grain size data collection
• Equip observers with IR temperature guns for skin
surface temperature measurements
• Snow dance for 2012/2013 field season!
20

21. Acknowledgements
Website:www.cocorahs-albedo.org
• National Science Foundation Experimental
Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
(NSF-EPSCoR #1101-245)
• NASA New Hampshire Space Grant Fellowship
• ASD, Inc. Goetz Instrument Support Program
• CoCoRAHS Volunteers
• David Harrigan, Jake Logemann, Mike Routhier
• Advising Committee
- Dr. Cameron Wake (UNH)
- Dr. Jack Dibb (UNH)
- Dr. Mary Stampone (NH State Climatologist)
- Dr. Scott Ollinger (UNH)
- Dr. Ming Chen (NCAR, Boulder)
• Family and Friends 21

22. Canopy & Pasture Temperature
22

23. Thompson Farm: Canopy and Pasture
• Canopy albedo does not change very
much compared to pasture albedo.
• Snow cover persists longer under
canopy than in the pasture (when it’s
not +80oF)
• Snow density generally increases over
time.
23