Scientists take flight to map California’s vast snowpack and measure flooding threats

Scientists take flight to map California’s vast snowpack and measure flooding threats

Flying thousands of feet above the Sierra Nevada in a plane equipped with specialized imaging devices, Elizabeth Carey has been scanning the mountains with lasers to precisely map the snow. The snow blanketing the Sierra lies so deep that the mountain range looks surprisingly swollen and “puffy,” said Carey, who leads the flights as part of a state-funded program. Carey’s employer, Airborne Snow Observatories Inc., provides data to the state Department of Water Resources, which uses the information to complement measurements from its network of 130 snow sensors across the Sierra Nevada.