Southeastern Arizona Water Resources

Image of calculated Normalized Difference Snow Index on the Rincon Mountain, Arizona.  Image Credit: Southeastern Arizona Water Resources Team.

Using NASA Earth Observations to Assist the National Park Service in Assessing Snow Cover Distribution and Persistence Changes in the Sky Islands

The Saguaro National Park in southeastern Arizona is home to unique mountain ranges known collectively as the Sky Islands. The Sky Islands are Biodiversity Hotspots and host different ecosystems, ranging from arid deserts to temperate forests. Snowmelt provides a source of water during the dry season for the various flora and fauna that inhabit the Sky Islands. However, change in snow cover is a growing concern for the National Park Service (NPS) who monitors water presence. A complete record of snow presence does not exist due to the remote and rugged topography of the region. As a result, it is difficult to study how water resources are changing in the Sky Islands and what effect this has on wildlife and vegetation. This project used NASA Earth observations to aid the NPS in understanding the role of snow cover in the Sky Islands. Historical snow cover maps were created to address the current gap in information regarding snow presence. With a more complete understanding of the impact of snow cover, the NPS will be able to analyze past snow cover changes to improve future land management decisions.


Project Video:
The Final Meltdown
Location
Mobile County Health Department
Term
Fall 2016
Partner(s)
National Park Service, Intermountain Region
NASA Earth Observations
Aqua & Terra, MODIS
Landsat 5, TM
Landsat 7, ETM+
Landsat 8, OLI
Team
Saranee Dutta (Project Lead)
Farnaz Bayat
Elaina Gonsoroski
Katie Harville
Tyler Lynn
Advisor(s)
Bernard Eichold, M.D., Dr. PH (Mobile County Health Department)
Joseph Spruce (NASA Langley Research Center)

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