Web-Based Snow-Cover Visualization Tools for Water Supply & Drought Assessment and a Validated Statewide SNOTEL Representativeness & Hydrological Utility Index

  • Water Scarcity and Availability
  • Statewide

Award Year: 2027

End Year:

$60000

Researchers will build a public tool that makes satellite snow-cover images easier to use for Idaho mountain watersheds. They will also assess how well Idaho’s 84 SNOTEL monitoring stations represent snow conditions across surrounding elevations. This is especially important after the 2026 drought pushed the snowline far above where fixed sites can capture it. The resulting statewide map and online tools will help water managers interpret snow conditions and identify where additional monitoring could be most valuable.