Skip to main content

David Moeser

thumbnail
Estimating the Future Effects of Forest Disturbance on Snow Water Resources in a Changing Environment
In the Western U.S., approximately 65% of the water supply comes from forested regions with most of the water that feeds local rivers coming from snowmelt that originates in mountain forests. The Rio Grande headwaters (I.e. the primary water generating region of the Rio Grande river) is experiencing large changes to the landscape primarily from forest fires and bark beetle infestations. Already, 85% of the coniferous forests in this region have been affected by the bark beetle, and projections indicate greater changes will occur as temperatures increase. In this area, most of the precipitation falls as snow in the winter, reaches a maximum depth in the late spring, and melts away due to warmer temperatures by early...
thumbnail
These data include snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) for a field campaign on April 9, 2024. The field area is comprised of 311 surveyed points in, on the perimeter of, and surrounding six forest openings next to Coal Creek off Coal Bank Pass in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado, USA. These measurements were taken to look at the relationship between snow accumulation and snow melt patterns between forest gaps of various sizes, and forest edges of various sizes (edge of forest gaps). Canopy metrics, including canopy height, total gap area, mean distance to canopy, canopy closure, leaf area index, non-directional edginess, canopy edginess with a southern aspect, and canopy edginess with a northern...
ScienceBase brings together the best information it can find about USGS researchers and offices to show connections to publications, projects, and data. We are still working to improve this process and information is by no means complete. If you don't see everything you know is associated with you, a colleague, or your office, please be patient while we work to connect the dots. Feel free to contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.