Snow from Space!
SnowSchool Kids Help NASA Transform Snow Science
April 30, 2026 — At SnowSchool’s National Flagship site at Bogus Basin, students and educators participated in the first-ever “Snow from Space” monitoring project, contributing real, on-the-ground data to the NISAR satellite mission (a joint project between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization) to measure the snowpack that supplies our water.
This winter, groups of elementary, middle and high school SnowSchool students in Idaho helped NASA scientists measure the snowpack that supplies our water in the first-ever “Snow from Space” monitoring project, contributing real, on-the-ground data to the NISAR satellite mission.
The experience started the same way many SnowSchool days do: stepping off the bus at Bogus Basin, snowshoes in hand, into a science experiment. Only this time it reaches all the way to space!
At SnowSchool, students dig into the snowpack, measure layers, and observe crystals. But with this unique project the groups also utilized a specially designed stormboard from which they collected snowfall depth and density by hand. That information is now being used by scientists to help validate satellite measurements taken hundreds of miles above Earth.
This is what SnowSchool does best. It turns curiosity into connection for thousands of kids.
— Kerry McClay, National SnowSchool Director
“It was really cool to be able to engage the students with real hands-on science! They were particularly interested in learning about the NISAR satellite’s location and loved collecting the storm board data by hand”
– Kat, Bogus Basin SnowSchool Instructor
Students measuring snow depth with SnowSchool Coordinator Josie Meyer
Middle schoolers learning about the stormboard.
Why Snow Matters More than Ever
In the western United States, snow doesn’t just provide recreation opportunities; it’s also key for our water supply. Mountain snowpack acts as a natural reservoir, storing water through the winter and releasing it slowly in spring. That snowmelt supplies drinking water to millions of people, supports agriculture, and sustains ecosystems. Learn more about what this year’s snowpack means for our water, communities, and river season in our Snow to Flow recap.
Meet NISAR: A Satellite Built to Measure Changes to Earth’s Surface
The NISAR Satellite launched in the summer of 2025 as a joint project between NASA and the Indian Space Organization. NISAR is one of the most advanced Earth-observing satellites ever built. It uses a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar to:
- See through clouds, darkness, and storms
- Detect subtle changes in Earth’s surface over time
- Measure shifts in land, ice, and glaciers with precision
- Track changes in snowpack structure and moisture
Photo Credit: NASA
Check out NISAR’s current location:
Hear It From the Scientists: HP Marshall on Why This Matters
Following NISAR’s launch, a team of snow scientist including WWA Ambassador HP Marshall have created a new strategy for using the satellite’s synthetic aperture radar to measure the water content of snow— one that has the potential to transform snowpack monitoring globally. As NISAR’s synthetic aperture radar travels through snow, it creates a subtle phase shift in the returning signal, revealing changes in snow depth and water content across entire landscapes and helping scientists track how the cryosphere (our frozen water) is changing in real time.
But satellite data alone can’t tell the full story. To understand how much water is actually held in snow, those signals need to be paired with precise, on-the-ground measurements. That’s where SnowSchool comes in.
“This is a grassroots scientific effort, and we need SnowSchool.”
– Hans-Peter Marshall
By pairing satellite data with hand-collected measurements from SnowSchool sites like Bogus Basin, researchers can calibrate and validate what the satellite is seeing. HP and the CryoGARS team at Boise State are using this approach to assess NISAR’s ability to measure Snow-Water Equivalent (SWE), the key metric that tells us how much water is stored in the snowpack.
Scientists are hopeful that this data will allow them to extrapolate snow water content across large areas of mountain snowpack (like a river basin or watershed). Broad implementation of this method could significantly improve global knowledge of seasonal snow patterns and support better prediction of streamflow during the melt season. And with the SnowSchool portion of the project having been successfully piloted this past winter, we now have the opportunity for SnowSchool sites nationwide to contribute their own measurements in the coming season!
Check out the video below to hear directly from HP on why SnowSchool is critical to the NISAR project.
Photo Credit: HP Marshall
SnowSchool students measuring snow depth.
SnowSchool student studying snow crystals.
Want to help out NASA snow and water scientists yourself?
Right now, we’re raising funds for SnowSchool projects like this one across Idaho.
