Snowpack map

Taking Stock of Mountain Snowpack and the Western Drought

Noah Molotch , associate professor of Geography, and INSTAAR hydrologist with a joint appointment at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and CU-Boulder colleague Leanne Lestak have been using 20 years of satellite data of snow-covered area, along with the SNOTEL data, to generate close to real-time estimates of snow water equivalent...

Poster

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Preview: Short talks by graduate students

Nov. 20, 2020

Featuring previews of AGU talks by Geography graduate students Friday, November, 20 th at 12:00PM MDT, 11:00AM PDT, 2:00PM EDT Add the Zoom link* to your Calendar: Outlook, Google, iCal Join the Zoom* meeting >> Meeting ID: 936 7520 5146 *This particular colloquium is limited to Â鶹ÊÓƵ...

2020 Spring Newsletter cover of laptop with photo of coronavirus

2020 Spring Newsletter Published

June 21, 2020

The 2020 Spring Newsletter has been published and is available for viewing. The newsletter is filled with department news, alumni updates, and articles by faculty and students. Contents: Message from the Department Chair, pg 2 ​Mara Goldman: Reaction to Coronavirus, pg 3 Page Hartwell: An Undergraduate's Perspective on COVID-19, pg...

Researcher shoveling in the mountain snow

Monitoring changing world at CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station

June 1, 2019

From base at 9,500 feet, scientists examine climate to top of tundra Motorists cruising the famed Peak to Peak Highway north of Nederland as they savor the scenery or head out for a visit to Brainard Lake might well sail right past a modest signpost for one of the highest...

Snow covered mountain scene

SNOTERNS Internship

April 16, 2019

The Undergrad Snow Internship Program has been hosting undergraduates at the CU Mountain Research Station for over 20 years and includes alumni like Jen Morse and Noah Molotch , who help run the program today. The long-term data collected through this program has helped drive published papers due to the...

Aerial view of CU Boulder campus with snow

Rain or snow? Humidity, location can make all the difference

March 23, 2018

By Trent Knoss , CU Boulder Today . CU Boulder researchers have created a map of the Northern Hemisphere showing how location and humidity can affect precipitation, illustrating wide variability in how and why different areas receive snow or rain. 32 degrees Fahrenheit is commonly considered to be the air...

Collage of students doing research in the snow-covered mountains

GEOG 4321 Snow Hydrology

Are you interested in the various processes related to snow in mid-latitude and polar areas? You will learn the physics and chemistry that underlie processes such as snow metamorphism, and apply this knowledge to real situations, including calculation of basin storage of water, runoff rates, acid snow, and avalanche dynamics...

Earlier snowmelt carries drastic consequences for forests

Aug. 3, 2016

Earlier snowmelt periods associated with a warming climate may hinder subalpine forest regulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), according to the results of a new Â鶹ÊÓƵ study. The findings, which were recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters , predict that this shift in the timing...

CU-led mountain forest study shows vulnerability to climate change

Sept. 10, 2012

A new Â鶹ÊÓƵ-led study that ties forest "greenness" in the western United States to fluctuating year-to-year snowpack indicates mid-elevation mountain ecosystems are most sensitive to rising temperatures and changes in precipitation and snowmelt. Led by CU-Boulder researcher Ernesto Trujillo and Assistant Professor Noah Molotch, the study team...