Improving Precipitation Phase Estimates in Mountain Environments with Participatory (citizen) Science

The Mountain Rain or Snow project seeks to address the challenge of accurately monitoring and modeling precipitation phase at the rain-snow transition through a participatory (citizen) science approach. An extensive network of observers collects observations of rain, snow, and mixed precipitation throughout the contiguous United States, with a targeted emphasis on mountainous regions. This presentation will summarize five years of research outcomes, including innovations in our data processing pipeline, comparison of the performance of remotely sensed observations, case studies in applications to avalanche forecasting, outcomes of using machine learning approaches to predict precipitation phase, and insights from evaluation of our engagement strategy. We will share successes and learnings from the process of building a nationwide network of observers, and we invite discussion of future applications of this unique dataset and new opportunities for participatory science in the Earth sciences.