Tahoe Silicon Mountain, a network of entrepreneurs and professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee area, is pleased to welcome Dr. Kelly Gleason and Meghan Collins to present at Mountain Minds Monday: “Why Snow Scientists Study Fire Effects and How You Can Help” More than 25 million California residents get their water from the Sierra Nevada, making it vital to understand how the snow will melt each season, based on factors like the severity of the previous season’s wildfires or drought. Dr. Kelly Gleason, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Hydrology at Desert Research Institute (DRI), will share her work on how our changing climate and recent extreme wildfire season could shorten your spring skiing. Then, learn how you can help deepen our understanding of snow through DRI’s new citizen scientist program, Stories in the Snow - which is the first of its kind to engage citizens to collect snow crystal data. Meghan Collins, who is part of DRI's STEM Outreach Team, will explain how important just a few minutes of our time on a powder day can make a big difference in helping researchers fill the knowledge gaps around how snowflakes form. Learn more about the DRI’s citizen scientist program at: http://www.dri.edu/stories-in-the-snow Mountain Minds Monday will be held on Monday, November 13th from 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner located at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. Pizza and salad is available and we use a Pay-What-You-Want model if you’d like to have dinner ($5 minimum). Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking. The event will also be livestreamed and available online as it happens on YouTube: bit.ly/YouTubeTSM This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders, Holland & Hart LLP, Molsby & Bordner, LLP and The Lift. You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook and at TahoeSiliconMountain.com or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/TSMEmail

1. Community Partners

2. Forest Fire Effects on Snow
Water Resources
Kelly E. Gleason
Division of Hydrologic Sciences | Desert Research Institute
Science Distilled | 25 October 2017

3. Dr. Kelly Erika Gleason
Post-doc in Snow Hydrology in the Ice
Core Laboratory, Desert Research
Institute, Reno, NV
Post-doc in Ecohydrology, USGS, AZ
Ph.D. 2015, Geography
Oregon State University
Forest fire effects to snowpack energy
balance
M.S. 2010, Ecology/Geostatistics
University of Florida
Ecology of global language diversity
2002-2008, Forest Canopy Ecologist
2004-2006, Peace Corps Volunteer
B.S. 2002, Ecology
The Evergreen State College
Peace Corps - Paraguay
Glacial Hydrology
- Peru
Biogeography - China
Canopy Ecology -
Washington
Plant Ecology - Arizona
Snow Hydrology –
Sierra Nevada
Ice core analysis – DRI

4. Key Question:
How do forest fires alter snow
hydrology?

5. 60-80% of
precipitation
falls as snow
Snow is an important water resource
90% of TMWA water supply from Lake Tahoe, Boca,
Independence, and Donner Lakes = SNOW DOMINATED
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
% of precipitation which falls as snow
Snow
Dominated
w/out reservoir capacity
to handle shifts in hydrograph
(streamflow 1-month earlier)
Snow
Dominated

6. Timing of Snowmelt
Peak Streamflow
Low Flow
Timing of snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada coincides with
(controls) peak streamflow in the Truckee River
Snowmelt
Streamflow
65% of PPT as SWE

7. +2°C
since 1900
30% decrease in snowpack since 1955
Warming climate = Decreasing snowpack

8. Warming climate + decreasing snow =
Increase in forest fire extent and duration
Increase in burned area
during years with early
snowmelt
500% increase in burned area in snow
since 1970s

9. Precipitation (Jan-Mar 2017)
Wet Winters + Hot & Dry Summers =
More Forest Fires in Seasonal Snow

10. Temperature (Jun-Aug 2017)
Wet Winters + Hot & Dry Summers =
More Forest Fires in Seasonal Snow

11. Precipitation (Jun-Aug 2017)
Wet Winters + Hot & Dry Summers =
More Forest Fires in Seasonal Snow
Lake Oroville
(2017 vs. 2015)
Hydro-climate extremes

12. Wet Winters + Hot & Dry Summers =
More Forest Fires in Seasonal Snow
California Fires - Oct. 12 2017Pacific Northwest Fires Sept. 5th 2017

13. Increasing
Fire
Decreasing
Snowpack
Warming
Climate
?

14. Alpine Snowpack Energy Balance
Adapted from Marks and Dozier, 1992
Energy Balance (W m2)
Snow accumulation Snow melt
SNOWPACK
Negative Net Energy Balance Positive Net Energy Balance

15. More open canopy = More snow accumulation

16. More open canopy = more sunlight on the
snowpack surface
Unburned Forest:
68% Canopy Closure
Burned Forest:
20% Canopy Closure

17. Charred forests shed
black carbon and
burned woody debris,
darkening the snow
surface, and reducing
snow albedo.

18. Visible Near - Infrared
Charred forests shed debris on the snowpack
surface which reduces the snow albedo
During snow
accumulation
During
snow melt
a) b)

19. Charred forests
increase solar radiation &
decrease snow albedo
= 200% increase in net
snowpack shortwave radiation
In burned forests, snowmelt occurs earlier and
faster for years following fire.

20. Short term: charred forests increase snow melt rates
and advance the timing of snow disappearance
Snow disappeared
5-35 days earlier in burned
forest for three years following
forest fire occurrence
Pre- vs. Post fire %
change in snow cover
Burned
forest
2012 2014
Unburned forest

21. Long term: snow in burned forests may
resemble open areas where snow persists
longer into the spring than in unburned forests.
More answers = More questions

22. Thank you!

23. www.CitizenScienceTahoe.com

24. 2

25. 3

26. How to use Easy Macro lenses
1. Strap the Easy Macro around your smartphone (or small tablet) so the
lens is directly aligned with the phone’s camera.
2. Support the phone on a steady surface and line up your shot.
3. Hold the phone very close to the object you’d like to photograph,
so it nearly touches. Slowly pull the phone away until the object is
in sharp focus.
4. Focus the picture by tapping the screen. Then shoot!

27. How to capture an image of a snow
crystal
1. Cool your Snow Crystal Capture card outdoors to ensure it is
cold. It needs to be cold so the crystals don’t melt while you
photograph them. Capture them on the black felt side of the
card.
2. Turn on Location Services. We need to know the precise
location where the picture was taken.
3. Take a picture using the macro lens for your smartphone. Be
sure it is in focus! You may need to take several.
4. Make sure the crystal is freshly fallen (do not photograph
crystals off the ground). You can try to catch crystals in the
air, or you can let your crystal card sit on a hard surface until
flakes land on it.

28. How to upload your data in the
Citizen Science Tahoe app
1. Search “Citizen Science Tahoe” wherever you get
your apps.
2. Scroll down the main page until you see Stories in
the Snow. Click and answer the questions about the
weather conditions at the moment and location
where you will take the picture.
3. Make sure Location Services are enabled when you
take your pictures. Upload your photos and
congratulate yourself for being a part of real
scientific research!

31. The science behind the project
“Ingredients” to form snow:
• Dust particle (ash, pollen, soot, etc.)
• Supercooled water droplets
Conditions of temperature and humidity are the
key factors in determining snow crystal shape.

33. Hexagonal shapes

34. Source: Ken
Libbrecht, PhD.
Snowcrystals.com

35. Stellar dendrites & fernlike stellar dendrites

36. Columns/needles & Capped columns

37. Diamond dust & triangular crystals

38. Twelve-branched snowflakes &
Rimed snowflakes and graupel

40. This is your call to action!
www.citizensciencetahoe.com
www.storiesinthesnow.org à Subscribe
Facebook.com/storiesinthesnow
@storiesinthesnow
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