Snowpacks collect atmospheric deposition throughout the snowfall season and offer a unique opportunity to obtain a composite sample of the chemistry of most of the annual precipitation at high-elevations (> 1800 meters). The purpose of the snowpack network is to determine annual concentrations and depositional amounts of selected nutrients and other constituents in snow resulting from atmospheric deposition, determine long-term trends in these concentrations, and to support investigations of impacts of atmospheric deposition on local and regional ecological systems. During the past 17 years, the project has become the most expansive and comprehensive snowpack-chemical monitoring network of its kind.
