Snow in the high country sometimes skips the liquid phase entirely, turning straight from a solid into a vapor. The phenomenon is responsible for anywhere between 10% to 90% of snow loss. This margin of error is a major source of uncertainty for the water managers trying to predict how much water will enter the system once the snow begins to melt.
“It’s one of those nasty, wicked problems that no one wants to touch,” Lundquist said. “You can’t see it, and very few instruments can measure it.
Lundquist’s project is one of the latest. Due to the complexity of the intersecting processes that drive sublimation, the team set up more than 100 instruments in an alpine meadow just south of Gothic known as Kettle Ponds.
“No one’s ever done it right before,” Lundquist said. “And so we are trying our very best to measure absolutely everything.”
I have wondered about this. I didn’t think it was so little known and it seems to be a big deal, as well.
Air-conditioning and swimming pools are sustaining my community. I worry about the day when they won’t be enough.
When Will the Southwest Become Unlivable?
Drowning in the Desert and other SW Dilemmas.
The times are a changing.