Illilouette Creek Basin Snow Depth Time Series

This dataset is part of a project assessing the impacts of wildfires on the water balance of the Illilouette Creek Basin in Yosemite National Park. Three weather stations were mounted on poles in an area that had burned under various severities in 2004 and in 2017 (Empire Fire). Each station is located in a distinct vegetation type: closed canopy mixed conifer, shrubfield (dominated by Ceanothus cordulatus), and a wetland. Each weather station has at least two time lapse cameras capturing images four times per day. These images were used to calculate the depth of snow by comparing the height of the snowpack against the weather station pole or a nearby tree to known heights along the pole or tree. Measurements from different cameras at the same station may differ slightly from each other if snow piles up against the side of a pole, or if snow melts preferentially near a pole, but these differences are small compared to the maximum depths of snow. The data shows that peak snowpack was deepest at the wetland site, and shallowest under the closed canopy. Spring snowmelt also finished earliest in the closed canopy site.