At the end of November we installed a high frequency snow depth sensor at UMBS! This simple setup uses a low cost sonic rangefinder to monitor the distance between the bottom of the sensor and the ground beneath it. As snow accumulates, that distance will decrease there for giving us snow depth data. The sensor is powered by a small solar panel and will measure hourly. The sensor node was designed by the Digital Water Lab in the UM College of Engineering led by Dr. Branko Kerkez to monitor river depth in watersheds across the state. We are very lucky to have them lend us a sensor node for terrestrial application and are excited to understand the trends of changing winter.
This incoming snow depth data will add to long term daily precipitation data at UMBS. Resident biologist Adam Schubel switches out rain collection buckets at the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) in the UV field every morning. This is a part of a larger project to monitor acid precipitation. He also manually measures snow depth and accumulation throughout the winter. These precipitation data will be useful for looking at past trends and verifying our incoming high frequency sensor data. To read more about the NADP program at UMBS, read the story here.