Evaluating the use of airborne lidar and satellite stereo-imagery to inform structural design for snow loads

Copy of AGU 2024 poster presentation, titled "Evaluating the use of airborne lidar and satellite stereo-imagery to inform structural design for snow loads". Abstract (plain-language) Building structures must be properly designed to withstand the weight of accumulated snow (i.e., snow load) on the roof of the buildings. Current guidance from the American Society of Civil Engineers is based on old and limited rooftop snow data, and the use of old data can lead to improperly designed roofs and potentially result in costly and/or life-threatening consequences. To reduce uncertainty in the design guidance, additional snow information is needed over diverse types of building infrastructure and in diverse locations. In this presentation, we will provide a preliminary analysis on the use of NASA airborne and satellite data to monitor roof snow loads at high spatial resolution. We show an initial comparison of snow depths observed on the ground and on rooftops using airborne lidar data, with a focus on urban developments in Truckee, California and Blue River, Colorado. Future investigations will also evaluate the potential of satellite imagery to derive high-resolution snow depth data with high temporal frequency. Finally, we will investigate the use of high-resolution imagery to determine the how long snow remains on rooftops, based on information about the snow or rooftop material.