Sierra Nevada Research Institute mission Foster interdisciplinary research that focuses on the Sierra Nevada eco-region, including the Central Valley & other adjacent areas. Facilitate synergistic links between science, the arts, education & natural resource management.
Themes in the SNRI strategic plan Climate & water Ecology & ecosystem science Air pollution & public health Environmental economics, policy & management
SNRI research within UC Merced $15 M in research grants to SNRI faculty since campus opened
Current SNRI faculty Andres Aguilar - evolutionary & conservation biology Roger Bales - mountain climate, hydrology & biogeochemistry, polar snow & ice Yihsu Chen - environmental economics Martha Conklin - biogeochemistry, groundwater, K-12 environmental education Michael Dawson - evolution & ecology Benoit Dayrat – ecology Phil Duffy - global climate change, climate modeling Henry Forman - lung-particulate interactions Qinghua Guo - remote sensing, geocomputation, landscape ecology Tom Harmon - contanminant hydrology, environmental sensor development Kathleen Hull - anthropological archaeology Shawn Kantor – economics Lara Kueppers - climate-ecosystem feedbacks, regional climate change Valerie Leppert - electron microscopy, nanomaterials Peggy O’Day - mineral-aqueous geochemistry Wolfgang Rogge – air pollution, organic aerosols Samuel Traina - chemistry of solids & natural waters Christopher Viney – bioengineering Tony Westerling - environmental policy Jeff Wright - water resources systems
SNRI research within UC Merced Grant amounts since inception of UC Merced, as of Sept CategoryAmount, thousandPercent Extramural grants$38,551 Research grants a $25, Research grants to SNRI faculty$15,28559 a Excluding grants for education, small business, etc. to non-faculty
Strategy for UCM-SNRI field stations
SNRI main area of interest for developing new field facilities
NRS PSW exp forest UCM station UCM research UC exp forest Wawona TPR Fish Camp SJV KREW SEKI Last Chance SJER NEON SNRI field facilities & research sites (incl. proposed) Aim is to build transects of instrumented sites along gradients of latitude & elevation Link with common cyberinfrastructure for data capture, archiving & serving
Wawona TPR Fish Camp SJV KREW SEKI Last Chance SJER NEON NRS PSW exp forest UCM station UCM research UC exp forest Sierra Nevada field facilities & research sites showing national forests & parks
Prototype instrument cluster: Wolverton, Sequoia National Park Priority: make research station more permanent, upgrade work space & lodging
Kaweah River, Three Rivers Priority: acquire site in cooperation w/ conservation groups & establish permanent station as per cooperative agreement w/ Sequoia NP
Kings River Experimental Watersheds: USFS/PSW research site
KREW is site for NSF Critical Zone Observatory & NEON gradient site
San Joaquin Experimental Range, USFS/PSW & NEON core site
The Central Valley Current thinking is to develop natural reserve access sites along elevational gradients in Central & southern Sierra Nevada – both Tulare & San Joaquin basins
Campus reserve
Wolverton basin & meadow instrumentation
Current research : Develop strategies that integrate remote sensing & ground-based measurements with state-of-the-art models to achieve accurate estimates of snowpack, snowmelt & the partitioning of snowmelt into runoff, infiltration & evapotranspiration.
Research plan 1.Establish & maintain ground-based instrument clusters 2.Develop remotely sensed data for mountain snowcover & vegetation 3.Calibrate & evaluate advanced hydrologic model 4.Estimate spatial water balance components 5.Simulate climate & hydrology
Stream stage & discharge Five pressure transducers installed in summer 2006
Wolverton meteorological stations Two stations installed in fall 2006, at Wolverton & Panther Meadow
Soil moisture & temperature Four locations Three pits per location Four depths per pit
Snow depth sensors Four locations 10 per locations One over each soil pit
Meadow piezometers & wells Three lateral transects & one longitudinal transect Continuous logging
Soil matric potential Transect in meadow, in line with piezometers
Sequoia National Park as a platform for world-class research & education