BishtRef
Articles Journals Publishers Authors Subjects Most Cited New Papers Year Stats Open Access
journal article May 01, 2017

Water and life from snow: A trillion dollar science question

Matthew Sturm ORCID Michael A. Goldstein ORCID Charles Parr ORCID
Water Resources Research Vol. 53 No. 5 pp. 3534-3544 · American Geophysical Union (AGU)
View at Publisher Save 10.1002/2017wr020840
Abstract
AbstractSnow provides essential resources/services in the form of water for human use, and climate regulation in the form of enhanced cooling of the Earth. In addition, it supports a thriving winter outdoor recreation industry. To date, the financial evaluation of the importance of snow is incomplete and hence the need for accelerated snow research is not as clear as it could be. With snow cover changing worldwide in several worrisome ways, there is pressing need to determine global, regional, and local rates of snow cover change, and to link these to financial analyses that allow for rational decision making, as risks related to those decisions involve trillions of dollars.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
58
[6]
Burakowski E. andM.Magnusson(2012) Climate Impacts on the Winter Tourism Economy in the United States Prepared for Protect Our Winters (POW) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Nat. Resour. Def. Counc. New York N. Y. [Available athttp://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/climate-impacts-winter-tourism.asp.]
[7]
Bureau of Economic Analysis(2017) Gross domestic product: Fourth quarter and annual 2016 (3rd Estimate) BEA 17‐14 U.S. Dep. of Commer. Washington D. C.
[8]
CDFA(2017) California Department of Food and Agriculture California Agricultural Production Statistics Sacramento Calif. [Available athttps://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/.]
[9]
Church J. E.(1908) The Mt. Rose Weather Observatory 1906‐1907: With Notes on the Progress of the Observatory 1907‐1908 Univ. of Nev. Reno.
[17]
DURANGO(2017) The Durango Herald Durango Colo. [Available athttps://durangoherald.com/articles/117340-nasa-to-study-around-silverton-as-part-of-satellite-development.]
[19]
Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey(2008) 2007 Census of Agriculture Vol. 3 Special Studies Part 1 268 pp. Natl. Agric. Stat. Serv. U.S. Dep. of Agric. Washington D. C.
[21]
Frentz N. D.Rafferty andD. S.Regan(2016) Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2016 Congr. Budget Off. Washington D. C. [Available athttps://www.cbo.gov/publication/52152.]
[28]
James T. A.Evans E.Madly andC.Kelly(2014) The Economic Importance of the Colorado River to the Basin Region 54pp. Ariz. State Univ. W.P. Carey Sch. of Bus. Tempe.
[29]
Kahrl W. L.(ed.) (1979) The California Water Atlas 134pp. State of Calif. Sacramento Calif.
[31]
Kohler J. O.Brandt M.Johansson andT.Callaghan(2006) A long‐term Arctic snow depth record from Abisko northern Sweden 1913–2004 Polar Res. 25 91–113. 10.3402/polar.v25i2.6240
[43]
NOHRSC(2017) National Weather Serrvice National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center National Snow Analyses Chanhassen Minn. [Available athttps://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/.]
[44]
NRC(2007) Earth Science and Applications From Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond 456 pp. Natl. Acad. Press. Washington D. C. [Available athttp://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11820.]
[45]
NRCS(2017) U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service National Water and Climate Center Portland Oreg. [Available athttps://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/.]
[48]
Sibley G. "The desert empire" Harper's Mag. (1977)

Showing 50 of 58 references

Cited By
253
The Impact of Deciduous Forest and Topography on Snowpack Dynamics in a Headwater Catchment in the Southern Andes Cordillera

Anelim Bernal‐Mujica, Sebastian A. Krogh · 2026

Hydrological Processes
Seasonal Snow Simulation: Sensitivity to Initialization, Parameterization, and Forcing

Danny Risto, Kristina Fröhlich · 2025

Earth Systems and Environment
Three‐Dimensional Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation Clear‐Sky Effects in the Upper Colorado River Basin

D. R. Feldman, M. Worden · 2022

Geophysical Research Letters
Global Snow- and Ice-Related Disaster Risk: A Review

Wang Shijin, Yang Yuande · 2022

Natural Hazards Review
Snow and Climate: Feedbacks, Drivers, and Indices of Change

Chad W. Thackeray, Chris Derksen · 2019

Current Climate Change Reports
The Seasonal Snow Cover Dynamics: Review on Wind-Driven Coupling Processes

Rebecca Mott, Vincent Vionnet · 2018

Frontiers in Earth Science
Metrics
253
Citations
58
References
Details
Published
May 01, 2017
Vol/Issue
53(5)
Pages
3534-3544
License
View
Authors
M
Matthew Sturm

Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska‐Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska USA

M
Michael A. Goldstein

Finance Division Babson College Wellesley Massachusetts USA

C
Charles Parr

Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska‐Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska USA

Funding
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Cite This Article
Matthew Sturm, Michael A. Goldstein, Charles Parr (2017). Water and life from snow: A trillion dollar science question. Water Resources Research, 53(5), 3534-3544. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017wr020840
Related

You May Also Like

A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media

Yechezkel Mualem · 1976

6,378 citations

Electromagnetic determination of soil water content: Measurements in coaxial transmission lines

G. C. Topp, J. L. Davis · 1980

3,991 citations

Evaluating the use of “goodness‐of‐fit” Measures in hydrologic and hydroclimatic model validation

David R. Legates, Gregory J. McCabe · 1999

3,719 citations

Effective and efficient global optimization for conceptual rainfall‐runoff models

Qingyun Duan, Soroosh Sorooshian · 1992

2,633 citations

Validity of Cubic Law for fluid flow in a deformable rock fracture

P. A. Witherspoon, J. S. Y. Wang · 1980

2,006 citations