UMich biological station uses snowpacks to study changing winters

Source: Grace Schuur, The Michigan Daily

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Karin Rand, the Classen Lab manager, set up a snowpack sensor in fall 2023 at the University of Michigan Biological Station along the shore of Douglas Lake in hopes of studying the impact of climate change on Michigan winters. The sensors, developed by the Digital Water Lab, measure snowpack levels, which researchers hope to use to understand the impact of decreasing snowpacks on soil nutrient processes.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rand spoke about discovering the sensors and the DWL, a U-M lab that creates sensors to measure the impacts of water, like flooding mitigation or dam control. Rand said she spotted one of the sensors in action on her walk to work one day, and immediately contacted the lab listed on the sensor to ask to use one at the UMBS. Once she received the sensors, Rand used them to collect regular, open-source quantitative data to analyze the effects of changing winters on winter soil nutrient processes.