1. US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® SWE Volunteer Observation Network for the Great Plains Kevin Stamm, Kevin Grode, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers November 2010

2. BUILDING STRONG ® Interagency Cooperative Plains Snow Survey  Assessment of plains snow cover  Depth and snow water equivalent  Scheduled frequency  Standardized method & reporting  Location  Missouri River Basin and Northern Plains  Supports flood, runoff/water-supply, and reservoir release forecasts

3. BUILDING STRONG ® Interagency Cooperative Plains Snow Survey  Cooperating Agencies  State of North Dakota  State of South Dakota  National Weather Service  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  U.S. Bureau of Reclamation  U.S. Geological Survey

4. BUILDING STRONG ® Survey Equipment  Standard 3-inch inside diameter snow tube  Shovel  Spring or digital scale  Folding ruler  Bucket with handle  Pick axe  Snow survey data sheet  Calculator

5. BUILDING STRONG ® Procedure  Select a site with minimal drifting ¼-mile from upwind obstructions  Collect and composite 5 snow cores from a cross pattern  Weigh the total sample and divide by the conversion factor #5 #2 #3 #1 #4

6. Collected/Calculated Data  Latitude/Longitude  General snow conditions (drifting, snow consistency)  Snow depth  Frost depth & estimated soil moisture  Ground ice thickness  Snow density  Snow water equivalent

8. BUILDING STRONG ® Data Collection  Reporting to a centralized location/database  Uploaded on a regular bi- monthly schedule  Initial collection through spreadsheet  Future collection through website  Access through website

9. BUILDING STRONG ® Equipment Prices EquipmentCost Fiberglass hand-built tube (NWS) materials labor $185.00 Snowmetrics tube (12-inch length)$150.00 Rickly Adirondack snow tube (48-inch length)$685.00 Rickly Federal snow tube (30-inch length)$315.00 COE-Omaha steel snow tube & tools (30-inch length)*$300.00 * Omaha District design, locally fabricated

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11. Favorable Conditions for Beetles

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