Scientists take flight to map California’s vast snowpack and measure flooding threats
MAMMOTH LAKES — Flying thousands of feet above the Sierra Nevada in a plane equipped with specialized imaging devices, Elizabeth Carey has been scanning the mountains with lasers to precisely map the snow. The snow blanketing the Sierra lies so deep that the mountain range looks surprisingly swollen and “puffy,” said Carey, who leads the flights as part of a state-funded program. “The amount of water that we have in the snowpack this year is just mind-blowing,” she said. “It’s just been extraordinary.”