US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® Missouri River Basin Cooperative Plains Snow Survey Kevin Grode, P.E. Reservoir Regulation Team Lead Missouri River Basin Water Management Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

BUILDING STRONG ® Cooperative Plains Snow Survey  Periodic plains snow survey  Depth & SWE  Two-week frequency  Standardized method & reporting  Volunteer surveyors  Northern Plains in Missouri Basin  Stationary sites where surveyors are available  Supports flood, runoff/water-supply, and reservoir release forecasts

BUILDING STRONG ® Cooperating Agencies  State of North Dakota & South Dakota  County Emergency Managers  National Weather Service  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  U.S. Geological Survey  Private citizens

BUILDING STRONG ® Data Uses  NOAA Snow model verification (NOHRSC)  MRBWM short/long-term forecasting ► Monthly volume forecasts ► Modeled snowmelt runoff forecasting ► Aid regulation decisions  Emergency management decisions

Survey Equipment  40-inch snow tube*  Spring or digital scale  Sample bucket  Shovel  Snow survey data sheet  Pick axe * Omaha District design, locally fabricated

BUILDING STRONG ® #5 #2 #3 #1 #4  Snow depth/water equivalent from composite sample  Frost depth & estimated soil moisture  Ground ice thickness Survey Data

BUILDING STRONG ® 2011 Survey Network  77 individual locations sampled ► 38 repeat locations ► 27 supplemental locations  Surveyor profile ► 6 USACE reservoir projects ► 5 National Weather Service offices ► 14 county and state governments or private citizens ► Omaha District personnel

BUILDING STRONG ® 2012 Snow Survey  Surveys scheduled every two weeks from Jan. 3 – Apr. 2  Due to lack of plains snow, surveys will commence if/when significant snow develops  Data posted to MRBWM website  Data will be shared with NOHRSC & all cooperators

Plains Snowpack 20 January Source: NOAA - National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center

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BUILDING STRONG ® 13 We need volunteers!! The Corps will provide a snow tube and digital scale. You provide a bucket and your time.

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Missouri River Basin Snowmelt Models Fort Peck Garrison Oahe Fort Randall Gavins Point St. Louis Nebraska City Sioux City Montana Kansas Iowa Nebraska South Dakota Wyoming Missouri Colorado North Dakota Knife River Heart River Grand River Moreau River James River Big Sioux River

Gridded Snowmelt Modeling NOHRSC SNODAS Model CRREL Gridded Snow Products Gridded Temperature Gridded Precipitation + +

BUILDING STRONG ® Assessing Runoff from Plains Snow  Modeling …Quality of input = Quality of output ► Current conditions ► Forecasted conditions  Basin / Climate Conditions ► Conditions vary over large upper basin area ► Soil moisture, frost depth, evapotranspiration ► Land use changes (tiling, vegetation) ► Weather forecast accuracy > 1 week ► Collaboration / Patience

BUILDING STRONG ® Questions