Aliste, Valentina; Nuñez, Paloma; MacDonell, Shelley; Schauwecker, Simone; Schaffer, Nicole; Guzmán, Camilo; Cuevas, Franco; Alcayaga, José; Briceño, Germán; Rubio, Germán; Leiva, Manuel; Canihuante, Daniela; Canihuante, Carmen; Canihuante, Luis; Muñiz, Ana; Silva, Juan Carlos; Díaz, Miguel; Cortés, Carmen; Pizarro, Aladino; Oporto, Gloria; Carmona, Magdalena; Torres, Jacinto; Gómez, Maritza; Rojas, Carlos; Araya, Cristina (2022): Snow properties (including grain size, density, depth and isotopic composition), measured in the frame of the citizen science programme "Vecinos de las Nieves" in the semiarid Andes in Chile from 2018 to 2021 [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.947117
Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.
Published: 2022-08-16 • DOI registered: 2022-09-20
Abstract:
Precipitation that falls as snow at high elevations is one of the principal water sources for the downstream areas in the dry Andes of Central Chile. The last decade was especially dry, with most years showing below-normal annual precipitation - the so-called central Chile megadrought. Together with increased water consumption, the dry conditions have led to considerable water stress. People living in high mountain areas are especially vulnerable to this water scarcity, which raises their awareness and interest in meteorological observations.
This dataset contains measurements of fresh snow and rain obtained in the citizen science project Vecinos de las Nieves (Spanish for “snow neighbors”) - a collaboration between scientists and community members who live, work or study in the mountainous sector (above 1100 m asl.) in the Andes mountains of the Coquimbo region, Chile (29°S to 32°S). Since 2018, following each snowfall during the austral Winter (May to August), the volunteers have measured the physical-chemical characteristics of the snow on the ground. Since 2021, the volunteers have also collected rainfall with a manual rain gauge. In total, 21 precipitation events have been documented, with a maximum snow depth of 292 mm at the highest observation site (3110 m asl.). In addition, 25 fresh snow samples from 9 snowfall events have been collected and successfully processed, to derivate stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes, whose values are in line with the global meteoric line.
The program Vecinos de las Nieves has generated new scientific understanding of snow and rain processes during the four winter periods, as well as connected isolated communities in the pursuit of science, and has highlighted the importance of local knowledge and interdisciplinary research in understanding snow dynamics and water availability in this area. Most participants have observed drier conditions in their environment during the last years, with fewer snow events compared to previous years, showing growing concern about the water availability in the future.
Further details:
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA) (2019): Manual del Científico Ciudadano. Vecinos de las Nieves: monitoreo de eventos de nieve en la precordillera. https://cienciaciudadana.ceaza.cl/images/documentos/MANUAL_VECINOS_DE_LAS_NIEVES_WEB.pdf
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA) (2021): Bitácora escolar de observación de la cordillera: guía para aprender ciencia observando la cordillera de zonas áridas. https://cienciaciudadana.ceaza.cl/images/documentos/Bitacora_Escolar_Observacion_Cordillera.pdf
Fierz, Charles; Armstrong, R L; Durand, Yves; Etchevers, Pierre; Greene, Ethan; McClung, David M; Nishimura, Kouichi; Satyawali, Pramond K; Sokratov, Sergey A (2009): The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground. IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology N°83, IACS Contribution N°1, UNESCO-IHP, Paris, 80 pp, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001864/186462e.pdf (186462eng.pdf)
Funding:
Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID), grant/award no. R16A10003: CONICYT-Programa Regional
Coverage:
Median Latitude: -30.497439 * Median Longitude: -70.462787 * South-bound Latitude: -31.223755 * West-bound Longitude: -70.940407 * North-bound Latitude: -29.976679 * East-bound Longitude: -70.040778
Date/Time Start: 2018-06-11T07:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2021-10-08T12:00:00
Minimum ELEVATION: 1181 m a.s.l. * Maximum ELEVATION: 3111 m a.s.l.
Event(s):
snow_Alcohuaz (Alcohuaz) * Latitude: -30.231361 * Longitude: -70.495086 * Elevation: 1752.0 m * Method/Device: Multiple investigations (MULT)
Comment:
Further details are given in attached reference "Metadata_SnowNeighbors.pdf": It presents the metadata and describes the citizen science project, the measurement and sampling method and the dataset features of snow and rain observations.
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Projects:
Vecinos de las Nieves (Snow Neighbors), Web: "http://cienciaciudadana.ceaza.cl/index.php/component/sppagebuilder/?view=page&id=8#:~:text=El%20proyecto%20de%20ciencia%20participativa,de%20la%20regi%C3%B3n%20de%20Coquimbo", Award: "Fortalecimiento de la generación y transferencia del conocimiento científico interdisciplinario del CEAZA, a partir de la vinculación con los territorios y ecosistemas de la región de Coquimbo", financed by Anid-Regional between 2017 and 2020.
Red de Escuelas Vecinas de las Nieves, Web: "http://cienciaciudadana.ceaza.cl/index.php/component/sppagebuilder/?view=page&id=10", Award: "Programa Explora", financed by the Chilean Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation.
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Event label | Event | Aliste, Valentina | |||
| 2 | Date/Time local | Date/Time local | Aliste, Valentina | Date of the Precipitation event | ||
| 3 | Site | Site | Aliste, Valentina | Site name | ||
| 4 | LATITUDE | Latitude | Aliste, Valentina | Geocode | ||
| 5 | LONGITUDE | Longitude | Aliste, Valentina | Geocode | ||
| 6 | ELEVATION | Elevation | m a.s.l. | Aliste, Valentina | Handheld GPS, Garmin Garmin eTrex20 | Geocode |
| 7 | Commune | Commune | Aliste, Valentina | Commune, an administrative division in Chile | ||
| 8 | Sub-basin | Sub-basin | Aliste, Valentina | Subcatchment. They correspond to the subdivision of a basin, the main basins being Elqui, Limarí and Choapa river basins. | ||
| 9 | Observer | Observer | Aliste, Valentina | Initials of the volunteer who carries out the precipitation measurements | ||
| 10 | Date/Time local | Date/Time local | Aliste, Valentina | Time of the begin of the precipitation. Given in local time (i.e. UTC-04). | ||
| 11 | DATE/TIME | Date/Time | Aliste, Valentina | Geocode – Time of the begin of the precipitation. Given in UTC. | ||
| 12 | Date/Time local | Date/Time local | Aliste, Valentina | Date of the precipitation measurement | ||
| 13 | Date/Time local | Date/Time local | Aliste, Valentina | Time of the precipitation measurement. Given in local time (i.e. UTC-04). | ||
| 14 | DATE/TIME | Date/Time | Aliste, Valentina | Geocode – Time of the begin of the precipitation. Given in UTC. | ||
| 15 | Snow depth | Snow depth | cm | Aliste, Valentina | Average snow height (or snow depth) is measured at 9 points arranged in the shape of a cross within an area of approximately 16 m**2. | |
| 16 | Hardness, snow | Hardness snow | Aliste, Valentina | International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground according to Fierz et al. (2009) | Resistance to penetration of an object into snow | |
| 17 | Name | Name | Aliste, Valentina | Local name. Term that is traditionally used by the volunteers to describe the observed snow. | ||
| 18 | Snow grain size | Snow grain size | mm | Aliste, Valentina | Estimate of the average size of the snow crystals. A value of 1.5 means that the size is in the range 1-2 mm. | |
| 19 | Temperature, ice/snow | t | °C | Aliste, Valentina | Digital thermometer | |
| 20 | Snow grain type | Snow grain type | Aliste, Valentina | Classification of the shape of snow crystals, using a crystal classification card and a geological loupe | ||
| 21 | Density, snow | Density snow | kg/m3 | Aliste, Valentina | Scale | |
| 22 | Snow water equivalent | SWE | mm | Aliste, Valentina | Calculated | |
| 23 | Precipitation | Precip | mm | Aliste, Valentina | Rain gauge | Since winter 2021, volunteers have been using a manual rain gauge to measure the amount of rain that falls during a storm event. |
| 24 | δ18O, water | δ18O H2O | ‰ SMOW | Aliste, Valentina | Triple Laser Water Isotope Analyzer (T-LWIA-45-EP), Los Gatos Research | first sample, vs VSMOW |
| 25 | δ18O, water | δ18O H2O | ‰ SMOW | Aliste, Valentina | Triple Laser Water Isotope Analyzer (T-LWIA-45-EP), Los Gatos Research | second sample, vs VSMOW |
| 26 | δ Deuterium, water | δD H2O | ‰ SMOW | Aliste, Valentina | Triple Laser Water Isotope Analyzer (T-LWIA-45-EP), Los Gatos Research | first sample, vs VSMOW |
| 27 | δ Deuterium, water | δD H2O | ‰ SMOW | Aliste, Valentina | Triple Laser Water Isotope Analyzer (T-LWIA-45-EP), Los Gatos Research | second sample, vs VSMOW |
| 28 | Deuterium excess | d xs | ‰ | Aliste, Valentina | Calculated | first sample, vs VSMOW |
| 29 | Deuterium excess | d xs | ‰ | Aliste, Valentina | Calculated | second sample, vs VSMOW |
| 30 | Comment | Comment | Aliste, Valentina | Remarks (translated to English) | ||
| 31 | Comment | Comment | Aliste, Valentina | Remarks (original). Observations such as wind direction, presence of clouds, thermal sensation. |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
1302 data points