Distributed snow-cover data fields are critical to assessing the performance of distributed snow melt models; therefore, incorporation of remote sensing data into our modeling effort is a high priority. Future plans include using active microwave imagery to determine snow cover depletion patterns for the purpose of estimating the spatial distribution of snow water equivalence in a small basin; utilizing Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) imagery to validate modeled snow surface grain size and albedo; and using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) imagery to determine snow covered area. These efforts are ongoing in basins in the USA and Chile.

Our efforts are focused on expanding on existing techniques for estimating distributed snow water equivalence (SWE) in large mountainous watersheds (>1000 km²) by compiling tools that emphasize two research components:

1. Validation: employ our understanding of small-scale process to validate larger scale estimation techniques through the use of ground-based measurement techniques.
2. Operation: push methodologies into a "pseudo-operational" mode and expand on our understanding of scale-affect uncertainty by using lower spatial resolutions in remote sensing and geostatistical techniques.

Ground based measurements of meteorological variables in forested regions are currently underway in the Catalina Mountains, Arizona. Snow surveys used to validate model results in the Alpine/Sub-Alpine regions have begun in the Upper Rio Grande watershed. Snow survey data from the Tokopah Basin of the Sierra Nevada are being used to validate model results in Alpine regions.