BOREAS HYD-03: Snow Pit Measurements from Boreal Forest Sites

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) sites in the Southern and Northern Study Areas (SSA and NSA) provide the geographic scope for this dataset. It contains detailed snowpack measurements from 1994 and 1996, including snow depth, density in 3-cm intervals, integrated snow water equivalent (SWE), and physical properties from snow pit evaluations. The data were collected to predict spatial distributions of snow properties relevant to hydrology, remote sensing, and gas transmissivity.

Use Cases

• Modeling spatial distributions of snow water equivalent (SWE) based on detailed snow pit measurements.
• Validating remote sensing signatures of snowpack using ground-truth data on snow density and depth.
• Studying gas transmissivity through snow using data on integrated snow pack density and physical properties.
• Analyzing boreal forest hydrology by correlating snowpack measurements from multiple sites across SSA and NSA.

Strengths

• Contains temporally specific data from two field campaigns in 1994 and 1996.
• Documents a variety of standard measurement tools, including a meter stick, 100 cc snow density cutter, dial stem thermometer, and Canadian snow sampler.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals its importance as a benchmark dataset.

Limitations

• Column names and data structure are unknown, limiting immediate usability.
• Conflicting last updated dates: datagov shows 2026-03-13 (likely a placeholder), while nasa_earthdata shows 1996-03-12.
• Row counts and dataset size are unspecified across all sources.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), BOREAS HYD-03 team

Collection Method

Field measurements using standard tools (meter stick, snow density cutter, thermometer, Canadian snow sampler) at several sites.

Time Range

1994, 1996

Freshness

1996-03-12 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Several sites in the Southern Study Area (SSA) and Northern Study Area (NSA) of the BOREAS project, likely in boreal forest regions.