Cryosphere Early Career Award

Nominated by Jeff Dozier (UCSB),
With supporting letters from Connie Millar, Steve Burges

Jessica Lundquist was selected for the 2008 Cryosphere Young Investigator Award based on her innovative contributions to cryospheric research. Dr. Lundquist has demonstrated the ability to independently address critical questions in cryosphere science and link the results of her research both within and beyond the broader cryosphere community.

Jessica Lundquist graduated from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego in 2004 and has already generated an impressive list of journal articles published in several of the highest impact journals in snow science and hydroclimatology (see below). She has demonstrated excellence in field techniques, introducing the snow hydrology community to the value of small temperature sensors for characterizing snow processes in mountain regions. In addition to her creativity, independence, and excellence in research Jessica demonstrates maturity and collegiality making her a highly valued colleague in mountain research.

Notable contributions by Dr. Lundquist include:

1. Identifying the importance of snowpack spatial heterogeneity to streamflow patterns in the California Sierra Nevada;
2. Developing new field techniques for monitoring snow cover and temperature in topographically complex environments;
3. Showing how earlier snowmelt due to climate warming will result in very different patterns of snowmelt because of differences in sun angle;
4. Developing a spatial model to explicitly account for cold air pooling, and;
5. Important cross-disciplinary research that promotes the important role of the mountain snowpacks in climate, hydrology, atmospheric science, and ecology.

Dr. Lundquist’s Publications

Lundquist, J. D. and J. Roche, Climate change and water supply in western national parks. Park Science, invited paper for special issue, accepted March 2008, in press.

Lundquist, J. D., P. J. Neiman, B. Martner, A. B. White, D. J. Gottas, and F. M. Ralph, 2008. Rain versus snow in the Sierra Nevada, California: Comparing radar and surface observations of melting level. J. Hydrometeorology,9, 194-211.

Neiman, P. J., F. M. Ralph, G. A. Wick, J. D. Lundquist, and M. D. Dettinger, 2008. Meteorological characteristics and overland precipitation impacts of atmospheric rivers affecting the west coast of North America based on eight years of SSM/I satellite observations. J. Hydrometeorology, 9, 22-47.

Lundquist, J. D. and D. R. Cayan, 2007. Surface temperature patterns in complex terrain: daily variations and long-term change in the central Sierra Nevada, California. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D11124, doi:10.1029/2006JD007561.

Lundquist, J. and A. Flint, 2006. Onset of snowmelt and streamflow in 2004 in the Western United States: How shading may affect spring streamflow timing in a warmer world. J. Hydrometeorology, 7, 1199-1217.

Lundquist, J., M. Dettinger, and D. Cayan, 2005. Snow-fed streamflow timing at different basin scales: Case study of the Tuolumne River above Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite, California.Water Resour. Res., 41, W07005, doi:10.1029/2004WR003933.

Lundquist, J. and M. Dettinger, 2005. How snowpack heterogeneity affects diurnal streamflow timing. Water Resour. Res., 41, W05007, doi:10.1029/2004WR0003649.

Lundquist, J., D. Cayan, and M. Dettinger, 2004. Spring onset in the Sierra Nevada: When is snowmelt independent of elevation? J. Hydrometeorology, 5, 325-340.**Paper selected to receive Wagner Memorial Award for Women in Atmospheric Sciences, 2003.

Lundquist, J.D., D.R. Cayan and M.D. Dettinger, 2003. Meteorology and hydrology in Yosemite National Park: A sensor network application. In Information Processing in Sensor Networks, F. Zhao and L. Guibas (eds.): IPSN 2003, LNCS 2634, 518-528.

Lundquist, J. and D. Cayan, 2002. Seasonal and spatial patterns in diurnal cycles in streamflow in the Western United States. J. Hydromet., 3, 591-603.**Featured as Paper of Note in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, January 2003.

Section Resources

• Section Guidebook
• Key AGU Contacts