Desert dust layers
on and in the alpine snowpack at the CSAS's Swamp Angel Study Plot on May
20, 2003. All of the snowcover shown here, and its 382 mm of snow water equivalent,
was gone from the site by May 28, 2003. That rapid meltdown is hypothesized
to be enhanced by the lowered albedo and increased energy absorption produced
by red dust contamination of the snowpack.
