OSU_SnowCourse Summary: Manual snow course observations were collected over WY 2012-2014 from four paired forest-open sites chosen to span a broad elevation range. Study sites were located in the upper McKenzie (McK) River watershed, approximately 100 km east of Corvallis, Oregon, on the western slope of the Cascade Range and in the Middle Fork Willamette (MFW) watershed, located to the south of the McKenzie. The sites were designated based on elevation, with a range of 1110-1480 m. Distributed snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) observations were collected via monthly manual snow courses from 1 November through 1 April and bi-weekly thereafter. Snow courses spanned 500 m of forested terrain and 500 m of adjacent open terrain. Snow depth observations were collected approximately every 10 m and SWE was measured every 100 m along the snow courses with a federal snow sampler. These data are raw observations and have not been quality controlled in any way. Distance along the transect was estimated in the field. OSU_SnowDepth Summary: 10-minute snow depth observations collected at OSU met stations in the upper McKenzie River Watershed and the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed during Water Years 2012-2014. Each meterological tower was deployed to represent either a forested or an open area at a particular site, and generally the locations were paired, with a meterological station deployed in the forest and in the open area at a single site. These data were collected in conjunction with manual snow course observations, and the meterological stations were located in the approximate center of each forest or open snow course transect. These data have undergone basic quality control. See manufacturer specifications for individual instruments to determine sensor accuracy. This file was compiled from individual raw data files (named "RawData.txt" within each site and year directory) provided by OSU, along with metadata of site attributes. We converted the Excel-based timestamp (seconds since origin) to a date, changed the NaN flags for missing data to NA, and added site attributes such as site name and cover. We replaced positive values with NA, since snow depth values in raw data are negative (i.e., flipped, with some correction to use the height of the sensor as zero). Thus, positive snow depth values in the raw data equal negative snow depth values. Second, the sign of the data was switched to make them positive. Then, the smooth.m (MATLAB) function was used to roughly smooth the data, with a moving window of 50 points. Third, outliers were removed. All values higher than the smoothed values +10, were replaced with NA. In some cases, further single point outliers were removed. OSU_Met Summary: Raw, 10-minute meteorological observations collected at OSU met stations in the upper McKenzie River Watershed and the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed during Water Years 2012-2014. Each meterological tower was deployed to represent either a forested or an open area at a particular site, and generally the locations were paired, with a meterological station deployed in the forest and in the open area at a single site. These data were collected in conjunction with manual snow course observations, and the meteorological stations were located in the approximate center of each forest or open snow course transect. These stations were deployed to collect numerous meteorological variables, of which snow depth and wind speed are included here. These data are raw datalogger output and have not been quality controlled in any way. See manufacturer specifications for individual instruments to determine sensor accuracy. This file was compiled from individual raw data files (named "RawData.txt" within each site and year directory) provided by OSU, along with metadata of site attributes. We converted the Excel-based timestamp (seconds since origin) to a date, changed the NaN and 7999 flags for missing data to NA, and added site attributes such as site name

Snow and meteorological observations were collected over a range of water years (WY) by three research institutions and by citizen scientists to characterize forest effects on snow processes across the Pacific Northwest, USA. Fourteen total study sites cover the western slopes and crest of the Cascade Range in WA and OR, and central and northern ID. Each study location includes one or more paired forest and open area in which to compare snow observations. A range of forest canopy densities and data collection strategies are represented, including paired manual snow courses, snow pits, automated sensors, and time-lapse images of snow measurement poles. Analysis and synthesis of all of these sites are presented in the data citation. Location attributes are provided as metadata for each site.

Snow and meteorological observations were collected over a range of water years (WY) by three research institutions and by citizen scientists to characterize forest effects on snow processes across the Pacific Northwest, USA. Fourteen total study sites cover the western slopes and crest of the Cascade Range in WA and OR, and central and northern ID. Each study location includes one or more paired forest and open area in which to compare snow observations. A range of forest canopy densities and data collection strategies are represented, including paired manual snow courses, snow pits, automated sensors, and time-lapse images of snow measurement poles. Analysis and synthesis of all of these sites are presented in the data citation. Location attributes are provided as metadata for each site.

UI_Mica_Location: Location metadata and meteorological and snow depth observations from met towers in the Mica Creek Experimental Forest. Data were collected at 7 different station sites at approximately half-hour intervals for water years 2003-2006, with discontinuous records due to equipment malfunction or damage. Stations were located within different forest harvest treatment sections, applied to the watershed in approximately 2001, including clear-cut harvest, partial harvest, and control sections (both second growth and old growth control forests). Site Data Citation for full description of the field campaign and sites. UI_Mica_met: Metadata and associated snow depth and SWE observations from 14 manual snow courses taken in the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed, as part of a University of Idaho project (PI: Tim Link). Snow courses were performed during in WY 2006, approximately monthly from February to March, and approximately bi-weekly from March to May. Snow course transects were 20 m long, with snow depth measurements taken approximately every 2m, and SWE approximately every 4m with a Federal Snow Sampler. Transects were located in different forest harvest treatment sections, applied to the watershed in around 2001, including clear-cut harvest, partial harvest, and control sections (both second growth and old growth control forests). Note that the partial cut canopy also includes skid trails, and some of the snow courses traverse the skid trails which tend to act more like canopy gaps than partial canopy (see Du et al 2013, Hydrological Processes, for discussion of this). Location attributes such as elevation, slope, and aspect, for snow courses taken from Jason Hubbart's personal files, Hubbart_snow_course.xls, with his permission; note that these values may differ from those extracted from a digital elevation model based on the coordinates of the transect. Coordinates represent the middle of the 20 m snow course, and transects were completed parallel to slope (personal communication with Jason Hubbart, 2015). UI_Mica_SnowCourses: Location Metadata for manual snow course observations and meteorological sensors. Location attributes, such as elevation, slope, and aspect, for snow courses taken from Jason Hubbart's personal files, Hubbart_snow_course.xls, with his permission; note that these values may differ from those extracted from a digital elevation model based on the coordinates of the transect. Snow course coordinates represent the middle of the 20 m snow course, and transects were completed parallel to slope (personal communication with Jason Hubbart, 2015).

UIEF_wind Summary: Within the Flat Creek Unit of the University of Idaho Experimental Forest (UIEF) near Moscow, ID, 30-minute snow depth and meteorological data were collected at seven locations across the Lawler Landing site (elevation 880 m) from February to May of WY 2008. A 70 m north-south oriented transect of 5 snow depth sensors was deployed to record sub-daily snow depth, with co-located meteorological instruments. The sensors traversed a 40 m long elliptical forest gap and the adjacent forest in both directions. The locations were the same as those used previously to quantify how shortwave and longwave radiation vary across a forest gap [Lawler and Link, 2011]. Two additional snow depth sensors and meteorological stations were deployed at “interior forest reference” and “open reference” sites, situated 80 m southeast and 1200 m west, respectively, from the main transect. Whereas the forest reference site was similar to the surrounding forest, the open reference site was much more exposed than the forest gap. These data are generally raw datalogger output and have not been quality controlled in any way unless specifically designated in the variable name. See manufacturer specifications for individual instruments to determine sensor accuracy. This file was compiled from individual raw data files provided by IU, along with approximate coordinates of the sensor locations. Collaborators at the University of Washington (Jessica Lundquist) converted the timestamp given in fractional julian days to a dates and added site attributes such as Location ID and cover. UIEF_snowdepth Summary: Observed snow depth from acoustic sensor. Measurements taken within the Lowler Landing Gap, as part of the University of Idaho Experimental Forest. Sensor data was collected half-hourly during February through May 2008. Sensor data collected at 7 different points. See location metadata and data citation for description of locations. These data include raw values and values that were smoothed by Diana Carson, see data citation for details. UIEF_Location Summary: Within the Flat Creek Unit of the University of Idaho Experimental Forest (UIEF) near Moscow, ID, 30-minute snow depth and meteorological data were collected at seven locations across the Lawler Landing site (elevation 880 m) from February to May of WY 2008. These location metadata are assocatied with each unique location identification, which ties to time series data. See Figure 1 of data citation for schematic map of locations. These coordinates are estimated from Google Earth based on Dr. Timothy Link's memory of where the sensors were located. Other attributes of each location were recorded as field notes as part of the study design.

Daily snow depth values from the UW Snoqualmie Pass site. A timelapse camera and 3 snow depth poles were deployed at the forest plot during water year 2015. Manual snow stake observations were taken in the open plot. This comparison of snow depth between the open and forest uses the daily snow depth data observed with the snow stake, rounded to 5cm, compared to the average of all visible pole values in the forest (read by eye from photos), also rounded to 5 cm. These data have been processed, aggregated and rounded. Raw photographs of the forest poles are also available. UW_Snoqualmie_snow_camera Attributes: Site - Snoqualmie, Cover - Forest or open, WY - water year 2015, Date - yyyy-mm-dd, Method - snow depth pole (with time lapse camera) or manual snow stake observation, Rounding - to nearest 5 cm, variable - snow depth, in cm, value - aggregated and rounded values.

The data set contains snow depth measurements from five study sites in Alaska, USA; data were collected during the March 2023 intensive observation period (IOP) as part of the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign. The study sites include three boreal forest sites in the Fairbanks region of central Alaska (the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest, Caribou Poker Creek watershed, and Farmer’s Loop/Creamer’s Field) and two coastal tundra sites in the North Slope region (Arctic coastal plain and Upper Kuparuk Toolik). Snow depth measurements collected from the study sampling sites during the previous field season are available as SnowEx23 Mar22 IOP Snow Depth Measurements, Version 1.

This dataset contains three field seasons of snow-wildlife observations conducted at 707 sites from January 2021 to March 2023 in Washington and Alaska, spanning a broad range of snow conditions. Relatively fresh tracks (usually <24 h) of common large mammal predators (bobcats, coyotes, cougars, and wolves) and their ungulate prey (caribou, Dall sheep, moose, mule deer, and white-tailed deer) were investigated to determine how snow affects predator-prey interactions. The track sink depth and dimensions (width and length) of three consecutive footprints were measured from one individual. Age class was recorded for moose based either on visual confirmation of an individual creating snow tracks or based on track dimensions. The ability to differentiate age classes for smaller ungulates was more uncertain, so age classes for deer, caribou, or sheep were not specified. Animal gait was identified using a simple classification scheme. Data also include animal species, snow density, hardness, total ice, surface temperature, and vegetation type. To best capture snow hardness, surface penetrability and hand-hardness were measured throughout the snowpack. The data are provided in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

Discrete snowpack data were collected during winter field campaigns from 2020 to 2022. These data were collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) Upper Colorado River Basin project focusing on the relation between snow dynamics and water resources. After a snow pit was dug, the pit face was analyzed for discrete snowpack measurements. Measurements taken were mass, temperature, and total depth. Using the mass values taken with a density cutter, the snow density and snow water equivalent were calculated. These data are released in a comma separated value file.