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White House Water Summit: UC Water joins the call to action with technology pioneered at SSCZO

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A data logger records snow depth, air temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and other measurements, part of the sensor networks deployed at SSCZO sites. This technology has been adopted by hydrologic observatories across California.

22 Mar 2016
News Source: The White House Office of the Press Secretary

Image: A data logger records snow depth, air temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and other measurements, part of the sensor networks deployed at SSCZO sites. This technology has been adopted by hydrologic observatories across California. [Click image to enlarge]

Hydrology

Sierra

As part of World Water Day, the White House is hosting a Water Summit today and released its Commitments to Action on Building a Sustainable Water Future. As part of the call to action, the University of California Water Security and Sustainability Research Initiative (UC Water) is pledging to develop "an integrated water-accounting system... a new basis for managing groundwater by using a novel combination of conventional groundwater-level data and modeling tools".

UC Water is uniting snow, surface water, and groundwater, and part of this integration is relying on sensor technologies developed by Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (SSCZO) researchers. SSCZO pioneered a network of instrument clusters monitoring snow depth, air temperature, relative humidity, and other environmental measurements in the Kings River watershed. This technology has been adopted by several other hydrologic observatories in California, including in the American and Consumnes Rivers watersheds where UC Water is testing its water-accounting process.

The tools that UC Water develops will be disseminated to water managers in California by 2017. The research initiative includes four SSCZO researchers: Roger Bales, Martha Conklin, Steven Glaser, and Mohammad Safeeq. Learn more about UC Water by visiting ucwater.org.

Written by Michelle Gilmore

News Source:
READ MORE from The White House Office of the Press Secretary >>

Key Links

White House focuses on innovation at Water Summit, from UC Water

Commitments to Action on Building a Sustainable Water Future, from The Executive Office of the President

Photos

SSCZO - Instruments

Matt Meadows (Field Manager, UC Merced) checks on an instrument on the P301 flux tower.

Anemometer measuring wind speed and direction.

Ultrasonic anemometer on the P301 flux tower measures wind speed and direction in 3 dimensions. Data is connected to gas samples taken every quarter second at the filters on the left (beige circles).

Instrument cluster featuring a relative humidity sensor, ultrasonic snow depth sensor, co-located soil moisture and temperature sensors at different depths, and a solar panel to power it all.

Instrument cluster at the P303 Upper Met site with ultrasonic snow depth sensor and co-located soil moisture and temperature sensors.

Instrument cluster at the P300 Lower Met site with ultrasonic snow depth sensor and co-located soil moisture and temperature sensors. The pole also psupports a solar panel, and an enclosure with a backup power supply and the data logger.

Instruments installed in the P301 meadows include wells and piezometers, at different locations to assess surface and groundwater flows.

Several clusters of instruments measure the water balance. These clusters each contain soil moisture and temperature sensors, an air temperature sensor, relative humidity sensor, and an ultrasonic snow depth sensor.

These water balance instruments are clustered at two different elevations, with north, flat, and south facing aspects. Conditions are measured under canopy, at drip edge, and at open canopy. Water balance measurements are also made in the wireless sensor network that stretches along the P301 meadow.

The eight subcatchments and two integrating catchments in the KREW project have flumes to measures discharge.

The large KREW flumes are complemented by small flumes for low flow.

Each of those eight KREW subcatchments also has a plastic-lined settling basin to capture sediment.

There are two meteorological stations in the Providence catchment - one at the lower elevation range and one near the crest. Each meteorological station has a rain gauge.

At the upper meteorological station, there is a snow pillow. This snow pillow tracks the weight of snow above it. Combined with the snow depth measurements, the two permit the calculation of amount of water in the snow pack.

Another view of the snow pillow.

Hundreds of instruments and sensors have been deployed in the primary SSCZO research site of the Providence Creek watershed as well as in Wolverton basin. Additional SSCZO flux towers and instruments have also been installed at the San Joaquin Experimental Range, Soaproot Saddle, and Short Hair Creek.

Explore more photos of the intstuments and sensors used by SSCZO.

SSCZO - Water Balance Transect

Within the headwaters of the P301 catchment is a series of montane meadows. The P301 water balance transect is comprised of monitoring wells, piezometers, soil sensors, and meteorological sensors.

A photo gallery of the P301 water balance transect can be found here.