New technology helping to measure Arizona's snowpack

PHOENIX - For the first time, researchers are taking to the skies to quantify Arizona’s changing snowpack.

Results from these new airborne operations are finally in, and they are providing a critical look at the state’s water future.

Big picture view:

"We’re in a time in history where water supply challenges, especially in the Western US, have been there, but they are going to intensify and we just need to keep improving our forecasting to figure out how to be nimble in the future," said Bo Svoma, SRP climate scientist and meteorologist.

That’s the driving force behind this new airborne snow survey. Partnering with ASU, researchers at SRP are now diving into the data.

"This is in incremental research phases where we want to understand how the snow accumulates and melts," Svoma said.

Dig deeper:

Using advanced light-based sensors, researchers measured snow depth directly from the air.

"We got a lot of moisture into the soils so it was the wettest fall in the Salt and Verde watersheds since 1978," Svoma added. "And then the winter went dry. And we just got a little bit of snow here and there, but the little snow that did melt actually produced streamflow and that’s because of the wet fall."

By the numbers:

The study shows 90% of Arizona’s headwater snowpack melted in just a few weeks.

"I think in this case the melting fast wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the bad thing is that we didn’t have much snow to begin with in the first place," Svoma said.

Scientists believe better data leads to better models—a necessary step in predicting runoff more accurately.

"If we can know how much water is going to be arriving in Roosevelt Lake over the next few months, then we can start making decisions for how to plan for the long hot and dry summer coming up," Svoma explained. "For instance, if we need to change how much ground water we’re pumping into the Valley."

What's next:

Right now, the focus is on turning this raw data into reliable models. The project remains in the research phase before any formal changes to water management are actually made.