Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)/NWTablameantd: Snowpack ablation in alpine couloirs: Mean data

[For a more detailed metadata record, see:
http://culter.colorado.edu:1030/exec/.extracttoolA?ablamean.td]

Lowering of the snowpack surface by ablation (melt) was
measured on a bimonthly basis within couloirs above the Green Lakes
and Isabelle Valleys during the summer months. One-inch diameter PVC
poles were driven into the snowpack to form vertical transects within
each couloir. The height difference (cm) between the top of each pole
and the snow surface was recorded. On the subsequent visit the new
height difference was recorded and the pole driven into the snow and
the reset height was recorded. Poles in a given transect were
relocated as necessary during the course of the season.

The Niwot Ridge LTER site (40deg.3'N. 105deg.36'W.) is located
approximately 35 km west of Boulder, Colorado, with the entire study
site lying above 3000 m elevation. There is a cirque glacier (Arikaree
Glacier [~90K photo and caption]), extensive alpine tundra, a variety
of glacial landforms, glacial lakes and moraines, cirques and talus
slopes, patterned ground, and permafrost. The research area is bounded
on the west by the Continental Divide, with runoff on the two sides
being destined for the Colorado and Mississippi Rivers.

Information about the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program can
be obtained from:

LTER Network Office
College of Forest Resources AR-10
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
http://lternet.edu

or

National Science Foundation
Division of Environmental Biology
Long-Term Projects in Environmental Biology
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Information about LTER is also available on-line on most gopher
servers and is also available on the World Wide Web (WWW) at
http://lternet.edu/