Check out our images from important hydrologic events. Click on any image to enable the photo viewer.

photo by Anna Wright
2013 flood: Boulder Creek near EFP
2013 flood: Gilbert White Memorial Sept 12th
2013 flood: Gilbert White Memorial Sept 13th
Stone arch bridge across the Daxia River, northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau, Gansu Province, China. June 2010
Former site of Lake Mills, Olympic National Park
Long lake and South St Vrain creek
Mark Schutte sampling bed load fall river 2014
View of Mount St. Helens, WA, and equipment used to scan the topography of the North Fork Toutle River. Aug. 2010
Faculty member John Pitlick and UNAVCO engineer Jim Normadeau using ground-based LiDAR to scan the topography of the North Fork Toutle River near Mount St. Helens, WA. Aug. 2010.
Rio Grande near Taos, New Mexico
USGS Gaging Station, Rio Grande near Taos, NM
White Rocks trail Boulder Open Space
Intercepting the Rozel, Kansas tornado with the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) team on 18 May 2013 as part of the ROTATE project. The goal was to collect radar data and low-level wind data on the tornado environment closest to the surface. This was Josh Aikins' first tornado experience.
A supercell thunderstorm on the plains of Kansas on 19 May 2013. The outline of the cumulonimbus cloud is highlighted by the sun.
The Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) on 29 May 2013 after intercepting a tornado in Kansas the prior day, which included a bail of hay impacting the back end of the vehicle. The TIV was used by Sean Casey to capture IMAX film of tornadoes, which was included in the Tornado Alley IMAX movie.
A "wall cloud" approaching our location as we chased tornadoes with the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) on 30 May 2013. Wall clouds form from the outflow of rain-cooled air from thunderstorms, which creates a gust front that moves outward from the thunderstorm further lifting warm moist air ahead of it and feeding the thunderstorm.
Doing some outreach with the locals in Norman, Oklahoma who were interested in the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV), and IMAX-equiped "tank" for filming tornadoes. Sean Casey (film director) teamed up with the Center For Severe Weather Research (CSWR) crew for the day on 31 May 2013 to collect data within tornadoes. Later this day, the famous El Reno tornado touched down in the suburbs west of Oklahoma City.
Hiking just above treeline at Niwot Ridge, a long-term ecological research site along the Continental Divide in the Colorado Front Range Mountains, on 9 March 2014. I was maintaining weather instruments at the Soddie research site at 11,000 feet elevation for Dr. Katja Friedrich's research team.
Digging out a PARSIVEL disdrometer at the Soddie research site (11,000 ft elevation) at Niwot Ridge, Colorado on 9 March 2014. The PARSIVEL disdrometer measures snow and rain particle sizes and fall velocities, and in the Spring it needs dug out of the deep snowpack in the Colorado Rockies alpine environment.
Digging out a PARSIVEL disdrometer at the Soddie research site (11,000 ft elevation) at Niwot Ridge, Colorado on 9 March 2014. The PARSIVEL disdrometer measures snow and rain particle sizes and fall velocities, and in the Spring it needs dug out of the deep snowpack in the Colorado Rockies alpine environment.
Two Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radars scanning a supercell thunderstorm on the plains of Colorado on 21 May 2014. The DOWs are part of the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) facility, and their goal is to collect radar and wind data on low-level tornado environments.
A selfie with a supercell thunderstorm and a Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar as we wait to see if a tornado will form. The goal was to place tornado "pods" in front of any tornado that forms while collecting radar data at the same time.
Digging out a PARSIVEL disdrometer at the C-1 research site (10,000 ft elevation) at Niwot Ridge, Colorado on 8 March 2015. The snow drifts heavily in this area during the winter and spring, so it usually needs dug out every spring.
Digging out an instrument at the Soddie site (11,000 ft elevation) at Niwot Ridge, Colorado on 8 March 2015. The snowpack is ~ 5 feet at this location and our instrument is only ~ 6 feet off the ground.
The University of Wyoming King Air research aircraft on display in Hays, Kansas prior to the start of the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) field project on 30 May 2015. The PECAN project was a multi-university NSF-funded project aimed at understanding nocturnal convection on the plains of the central US.
CSWR intern students deploying a weather "pod" on a county road in Kansas/Nebraska in preparation for a passing convective system as part of the PECAN project on 1 June 2015. The weather pod collects meteorological data (wind, temperature, dew point, pressure), which will later be analyzed by graduate students and researchers to understand how nocturnal thunderstorms behave.
A Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) scout vehicle instrumented with weather instruments waiting for a mesoscale convective system (MCS) to move over its location during the PECAN field project on 10 June 2015.
Josh Aikins once again digging out a PARSIVEL disdrometer from the deep snowpack at Niwot Ridge, Colorado at 11,000 feet elevation on 18 February 2016.
Graduate student Josh Aikins de-icing instruments from a mountaintop location (7,000 ft elevation) in Idaho on 21 January 2017 during the Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime clouds -the Idaho Experiment (SNOWIE) filed campaign. The tarp-covered trailer buried in snow was the lodging accommodations for 2 people throughout the project (January - March 2017).
The Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar positioned on the top of Packer John Mountain (7,000 ft elevation) in central Idaho on 30 January 2017 for the SNOWIE field project aimed at observing seeded and natural snowfall within the Payette River Basin.
Graduate student Josh Aikins enjoying a mountaintop sunset from the Packer John location (7,000 ft elevation) in central Idaho on 30 January 2017 prior to an incoming storm. Josh was deployed on this mountaintop location between January and March 2017 as part of the SNOWIE field project, which aimed to observe the impacts of cloud seeding on snow production within the Payette River Basin of Idaho.
Digging out a buried truck from the Snowbank site (8,000 ft elevation) during the SNOWIE field project in central Idaho on 1 March 2017. This location also had 10-20 foot drifts that had to be carved away by a commercial snowblower throughout the SNOWIE project (January - March 2017).
Digging out a truck buried by snow and wind at the Snowbank site (8,000 ft elevation) in central Idaho as part of the SNOWIE field project on 1 March 2017. A CSWR Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar is in the background and was used during the SNOWIE project to observe seeded and natural snowfall over the Payette River Basin. A commercial snowblower is on the left, which helped the crew reach the truck through 10-20 foot snow drifts.
A 20 foot snow drift at the Snowbank mountaintop location (8,000 ft elevation) was carved away by a commercial snow blower on 1 March 2017 in order to access the site during the SNOWIE field project.
CU graduate student Josh Aikins surrounded by snow drifts at the Snowbank mountaintop location (8,000 ft elevation) in central Idaho on 12 March 2017, a site used during the SNOWIE field project to study the impacts of cloud seeding on mountain snowpack between January - March 2017.
A CSWR Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar positioned at the Snowbank mountaintop location (8,000 ft elevation) on 12 March 2017 as part of the SNOWIE field project. The DOW radar was used to collect data on seeded and natural clouds and snowfall between January and March 2017. The only access to the site was via snowmobile. The site was so buried by snow that tunnels were dug to access the trailer, porta potties, and radar truck.
CU graduate student Josh Aikins snowmobiling to the Snowbank research site in central Idaho during the SNOWIE field project on 12 March 2017. The SNOWIE project ran between January and March 2017 and included manning two mountaintop mobile radars to collect data on the impacts of cloud seeding on mountain snowpack. This was one of Josh's daily commutes during the project.
Collecting snowpit measurements during the 2015 Niwot Ridge Snow Survey within the Green Lakes Valley watershed.
Investigating a malfunction within the ground penetrating radar (GPR) system while out in the field on the Grand Mesa during year one of the NASA SnowEx Campaign in February 2017.
Taking a break from dragging the GPR sled across a transect on the Grand Mesa during year one of the NASA SnowEx Campaign in February 2017.
Heading out to take depth measurements using probe/GPS during the 2015 Niwot Ridge Snow Survey within the Green Lakes Valley watershed.
Graduate student Katherine Hale presenting work in poster form during the 2017 AGU conference in New Orleans.
Graduate student Katherine Hale presenting work in poster form during the 2017 AGU conference in New Orleans.
Jessie Egan_fieldwork_1
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Jessie Egan in the woods with a squirrel on her shoulder
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Graduate student, John Stults, working on a well water project in east Boulder County.
Graduate student, John Stults, working on a well water project in east Boulder County.
Graduate student, John Stults, working on a well water project in east Boulder County.
Graduate student, John Stults, working on a well water project in east Boulder County.
Niwot Ridge LTER - Mountain Research Station
Niwot Ridge snowmelt hydrology
Niwot Ridge unsaturated hydraulic conductivity instrument
Niwot Ridge Tundra Lab
Niwot Ridge Wireless Sensor Network