AMS-Network of Networks

USDA-NRCS
SCAN, SNOTEL, and Snow Course
Networks

Garry L. Schaefer, WCM Branch Leader,

National Water and Climate Center, Portland, OR

August 10-13, 2009

Norman, OK

Slide 1
 SCAN
• Current network has 151
stations in 40 States
• Provides hourly data with

– Precipitation
– Air temperature
– Relative humidity
– Solar radiation
– Wind speed and direction
– Barometric pressure
– Soil moisture and soil
temperature
• 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 CM
– And other sensors as needed

Slide 2
Slide 3
 Soil Moisture/ Precipitation
UAPB Point Remove, AR
Soil Moisture vs. Precipitation
PRELIMINARY DATA SUBJECT TO CHANGE

45 3

40 2.5
Volumetric Soil Moisture

Inches of Precipitation
35 2

30 1.5

25 1

20 0.5

15 0
3/1/2008

3/7/2008

3/13/2008

3/19/2008

3/25/2008

3/31/2008

4/6/2008

4/12/2008

4/18/2008

4/24/2008

4/30/2008

5/6/2008

5/12/2008

5/18/2008

5/24/2008

5/30/2008

6/5/2008

6/11/2008

6/17/2008

6/23/2008

6/29/2008

7/5/2008

7/11/2008
Hourly Readings
Hourly Precipitation 2" Soil Moisture 4" Soil Moisture 8" Soil Moisture 20" Soil Moisture Slide
40" Soil 4
Moisture
 SCAN Vision
• SCAN is a cooperative network with funding provided
both from federal and cooperator sources
• Full implementation would have 1,000 new stations
and partnering with existing networks for an
additional 1,000 stations
• The NRCS stations would utilize the “Benchmark
Soils” as the first priority for installation
• All historic and real-time SCAN data are available on
the web
– http:www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/scan

Slide 5
 SNOTEL and Snow Course
Cooperative Networks
• SNOTEL is a Large Automated Climate
Network
– Generally in high elevation areas
– Main focus for data is for snow water content
– Located in the 13 Western States and Alaska
– Utilizes meteor burst communication technology to
transmit remote station data in near real-time
– All data are available on the web within minutes of
collection
Slide 6
 SNOTEL and Snow Course
Networks
• SNOTEL is a Large Automated
Climate Network
– Began in 1978
– 765 remote stations
– Generally in high elevation
areas
– Located in the 13 Western
States including Alaska
• Manual Snow Course Network
– ~ 1,000 manual snow courses
providing monthly snow depth
and water content
measurements
– Measured infrequently during
the winter months

Slide 7
 SNOTEL Parameters
• Typical Sensor Array
– Snow water content
– All season precipitation
– Air temperature (maximum, minimum, and
average)
– Snow depth
– Soil moisture and soil temperature at 35% of
network measured at 10 cm, 20 cm, and 50 cm
with 10 % using the same depths as SCAN
– ~ 40% report hourly data and only the midnight
data are quality controlled and edited by NRCS
Slide 8
Typical SNOTEL Station

Slide 9
 Conclusions

• All three networks provide valuable soil-climate information

• The automated networks are very cost effective to operate
• The automated networks operate on solar power and batteries so they can be
placed where they are needed and most use the meteor burst communication
technology to retrieve the remote station data
• NRCS is working with partners to develop a spatial soil moisture model that
integrates above ground information along with soils information and in situ soil
moisture data to provide a spatial map of soil moisture with confidence intervals
• SCAN and SNOTEL data are available on the web hourly
• SCAN and SNOTEL data are sent to the NWS hourly for redistribution to NWS
offices and others
• NRCS is in the process of acquiring a CONUS meteor burst communication
system of master stations allowing the NRCS total U.S. coverage
• Each master station can receive about 3,000 remote stations within a 2,000 KM
radius
• SNOTEL has line-item funding while SCAN is supported by NRCS and
cooperator funding at this time
• USDA has requested from NRCS 2011 Budget Initiatives to expand and Slide 10
maintain both networks
 Contacts
• Garry L. Schaefer, NRCS
Water & Climate Monitoring Branch Leader
1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 802
Portland, OR 97232
Phone: 503-414-3068 Fax: 503-414-3101
Email: garry.schaefer@por.usda.gov

Slide 11