S. McKenzie Skiles portrait
  • Associate Professor, Sch Of Environ,Society&Sustain
801-808-2337

Publications

  • Skiles, S.M. & C. Donahue, A. Hunsaker, J. Jacobs (2023). UAV Hyperspectral Imaging for Multiscale Assessment of Landsat 9 Snow Grain Size and Albedo. Frontiers in Remote Sensing. Published, 01/12/2023.
  • S. McKenzie Skiles, Dillon Ragar & Steven Clark (2022). Hourly snow energy and mass balance at Atwater Study Plot, Alta, Utah. Hydrologic Processes. Published, 03/2022.
    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.14...
  • M. Flanner, Julian B Arnheim, Joseph M Cook, Cheng Dang, Cenlin He, Xianglei Huang, Deepak Singh, S McKenzie Skiles, Chloe A Whicker & Charles S Zender (2021). SNICAR-AD v3: A community tool for modeling spectral snow albedo. Geoscientific Model Development. Geoscientific Model Development. Published, 12/21/2021.
    https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/14/7673/2021/
  • Chelsea Ackroyd, S. McKenzie Skiles, Karl Rittger & Joachim Meyer (2021). Trends in Snow Cover Duration Across River Basins in High Mountain Asia from Daily Gap-Filled MODIS Fractional Snow Covered Area. Frontiers in Earth Science. Published, 09/2021.
    https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.713145
  • Scott Hotaling, S. McKenzie Skiles, Trinity Hamilton & and others (2021). Biological albedo reduction on ice sheets, glaciers, and snowfields. Earth-Science Reviews. Published, 09/2021.
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/...
  • Jennifer J Follstad Shah, S. McKenzie Skiles, Paul Brooks & and others (2021). The Wasatch Environmental Observatory: A mountain to urban research network in the semi‐arid western US. Hydrologic Processes. Published, 08/2021.
    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hy...
  • Bair E & Stillinger T (2021). COVID-19 lockdowns show reduced pollution on snow and ice in the Indus River Basin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 118. Published, 05/01/2021.
  • Ned Bair & T. Stillinger, K. Rittger, S.M. Skiles (2021). COVID-19 Lockdowns Show Reduced Pollution on Snow and Ice in the Indus River Basin. PNAS. Accepted, 03/23/2021.
  • Hock, R. & S.M. Skiles (contributing) (2020). Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, Chapter 2: High Mountain Areas. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Published, 02/18/2020.
  • Cook, J.M., Tedstone, A. J., Williamson, C., McCutcheon, J., Hodson, A. J., Dayal, A., Skiles, S.M., Hofer, S., Bryant, R., McAree, O., McGonigle, A., Ryan, J., Anesio, A. M., Irvine-Fynn, T. D. L., Hubbard, A., Hanna, E., Flanner, M., Mayanna, S., Benning, L. G., & van As, D., Yallop, M., McQuaid, J., Gribbin, T., and Tranter, M. (2020). Glacier algae accelerate melt rates on the western Greenland Ice Sheet. The Cryosphere. Vol. 14, 309-330. Published, 01/29/2020.
  • Cook, J.M. & M. Flanner, C. Williamson, S.M. Skiles (2019). Bio-optical properties of Terrestrial Snow and Ice. Vol. 3, Springer (Series on Light Scattering). Published, 06/30/2019.
  • Skiles, S. McKenzie & D. Mallia, A.G. Hallar, J.C. Lin, A. Lambert, R. Petersen, S. Clark (2018). Implications of a shrinking Great Salt Lake for dust on snow deposition in the Wasatch Mountains, UT, as informed by a source to sink case study from the April 13th, 2017 dust event. Environmental Research Letters. Published, 12/2018.
    http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-932...
  • Skiles S., Flanner M., Cook J., Dumont M. & Painter T. (2018). Radiative forcing by light-absorbing particles in snow. (pp. 964-971). Vol. 8. Nature Climate Change. Published, 11/01/2018.
  • Skiles, S. McKenzie & Painter, Thomas H. (2018). Assessment of radiative forcing by light-absorbing particles in snow from in situ observations with radiative transfer modeling. Journal of Hydrometeorology. Vol. 19, 1397-1409. Published, 08/01/2018.
  • Dial RJ, Ganey GQ & Skiles SM (2018). What color should glacier algae be? An ecological role for red carbon in the cryosphere. FEMS microbiology ecology. Vol. 94. Published, 02/01/2018.
  • Painter T., Skiles S., Deems J., Brandt W. & Dozier J. (2018). Variation in Rising Limb of Colorado River Snowmelt Runoff Hydrograph Controlled by Dust Radiative Forcing in Snow. (pp. 797-808). Vol. 45, Geophysical Research Letters. Published, 01/28/2018.
  • Painter T., Skiles S., Green R., Seidel F. & Nolin A. (2017). Imaging spectroscopy to understand the controls on cryospheric melting in a changing world. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). Vol. 2017-July, 3070-3073. Published, 12/01/2017.
  • Casey, Kimberley, Kaspari, Susan, Skiles, S. McKenzie, Kruetz, K. & Handley, M.J. (2017). Light absorbing particulates on snow: the spectral and chemical measurements of pollutant impacts on snow near South Pole, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 6592–6610. Published, 06/27/2017.
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016JD0...
  • Skiles, S. McKenzie, Painter, Thomas & Okin, Greg (2017). A method to retrieve the spectral complex refractive index and single scattering optical properties of dust deposited in mountain snow. Journal of Glaciology. Vol. 63, 133-147. Accepted, 02/2017.
    https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.126
  • Skiles, S. McKenzie & Painter, Thomas (2017). Daily evolution in dust and black carbon content, snow grain size, and snow albedo during snowmelt, Rocky Mountains, Colorado. Journal of Glaciology. Vol. 63, 118-132. Published, 02/2017.
    https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.125
  • Painter T., Berisford D., Boardman J., Bormann K., Deems J., Gehrke F., Hedrick A., Joyce M., Laidlaw R., Marks D., Mattmann C., McGurk B., Ramirez P., Richardson M., Skiles S., Seidel F. & Winstral A. (2016). The Airborne Snow Observatory: Fusion of scanning lidar, imaging spectrometer, and physically-based modeling for mapping snow water equivalent and snow albedo. (pp. 139-152). Vol. 184, Remote Sensing of Environment. Published, 10/01/2016.
  • Seidel F., Rittger K., McKenzie Skiles S., Molotch N. & Painter T. (2016). Case study of spatial and temporal variability of snow cover, grain size, albedo and radiative forcing in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountain snowpack derived from imaging spectroscopy. (pp. 1229-1244). Vol. 10, Cryosphere. Published, 06/15/2016.
  • Miller S., Wang F., Burgess A., McKenzie Skiles S., Rogers M. & Painter T. (2016). Satellite-based estimation of temporally resolved dust radiative forcing in snow cover. (pp. 1999-2011). Vol. 17, Journal of Hydrometeorology. Published, 01/01/2016.
  • Minder J., Letcher T. & Skiles S. (2016). An evaluation of high-resolution regional climate model simulations of snow cover and albedo over the rocky mountains, with implications for the simulated snow-albedo feedback. (pp. 9069-9088). Vol. 121, Journal of Geophysical Research. Published, 01/01/2016.
  • Skiles S., Painter T., Belnap J., Holland L., Reynolds R., Goldstein H. & Lin J. (2015). Regional variability in dust-on-snow processes and impacts in the Upper Colorado River Basin. (pp. 5397-5413). Vol. 29, Hydrological Processes. Published, 12/30/2015.
  • Oaida C., Xue Y., Flanner M., Skiles S., De Sales F. & Painter T. (2015). Improving snow albedo processes in WRF/SSiB regional climate model to assess impact of dust and black carbon in snow on surface energy balance and hydrology over western U.S.. (pp. 3228-3248). Vol. 120, Journal of Geophysical Research. Published, 01/01/2015.
  • Kaspari S., Skiles S., Delaney I., Dixon D. & Painter T. (2015). Accelerated glacier melt on Snow Dome, Mount Olympus, Washington, USA, due to deposition of black carbon and mineral dust from wildfire. (pp. 2793-2807). Vol. 120, Journal of Geophysical Research. Published, 01/01/2015.
  • Reynolds R., Goldstein H., Moskowitz B., Bryant A., Skiles S., Kokaly R., Flagg C., Yauk K., Berquó T., Breit G., Ketterer M., Fernandez D., Miller M. & Painter T. (2014). Composition of dust deposited to snow cover in the Wasatch Range (Utah, USA): Controls on radiative properties of snow cover and comparison to some dust-source sediments. (pp. 73-90). Vol. 15, Aeolian Research. Published, 12/01/2014.
  • Kaspari S., Painter T., Gysel M., Skiles S. & Schwikowski M. (2014). Seasonal and elevational variations of black carbon and dust in snow and ice in the Solu-Khumbu, Nepal and estimated radiative forcings. (pp. 8089-8103). Vol. 14, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. Published, 08/13/2014.
  • Painter T., Seidel F., Bryant A., McKenzie Skiles S. & Rittger K. (2013). Imaging spectroscopy of albedo and radiative forcing by light-absorbing impurities in mountain snow. (pp. 9511-9523). Vol. 118, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres. Published, 09/16/2013.
  • Li J., Okin G., McKenzie Skiles S. & Painter T. (2013). Relating variation of dust on snow to bare soil dynamics in the western United States. Vol. 8, Environmental Research Letters. Published, 01/01/2013.
  • Painter T., Bryant A. & McKenzie Skiles S. (2012). Radiative forcing by light absorbing impurities in snow from MODIS surface reflectance data. Vol. 39, Geophysical Research Letters. Published, 09/16/2012.
  • Skiles S., Painter T., Deems J., Bryant A. & Landry C. (2012). Dust radiative forcing in snow of the Upper Colorado River Basin: 2. Interannual variability in radiative forcing and snowmelt rates. Vol. 48, Water Resources Research. Published, 08/08/2012.
  • Painter T., Skiles S., Deems J., Bryant A. & Landry C. (2012). Dust radiative forcing in snow of the Upper Colorado River Basin: 1. A 6 year record of energy balance, radiation, and dust concentrations. Vol. 48, Water Resources Research. Published, 08/08/2012.

Presentations

  • Dust in the Wind, Snowmelt on the Rise. Cryosphere Early Career Award Presentation. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/12/2023.
  • Informing snow energy balance modeling with remote sensing in snow dominated watersheds in the Colorado River Basin. Colorado River Basin Hydroclimate Meeting. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/22/2023.
  • Radiative forcing by dust on snow and implications for mountain watersheds. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, OR. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 08/10/2023.
  • Development of an operational snow energy balance model informed by numerical weather prediction and remote sensing for the Western US. European Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/10/2023.
  • Dust on Powder: Saving the Great Salt Lake and the Greatest Snow on Earth. The Nature Conservancy, Special Presentation at Snowbird Ski Resort. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/08/2023.
    https://www.snowbird.com/blog/nature-conservancy-r...
  • S.M. Skiles, C. Donahue, J. Meyer, C. Ackroyd, C. Vuyovich. Simulating snow property retrievals from satellite imaging spectroscopy using the SnowEx ‘21 AV-NG time series. AGU Fall Meeting 2022. Presentation, Presented, 12/2022.
  • J. Gayler and S.M. Skiles. Response of Snow and Land Surface Albedo to Fire Disturbance in the Sierra Nevada over the MODIS Record. AGU Annual Meeting 2022 (Chicago). Presentation, Presented, 12/2022.
  • P. Naple, S.M. Skiles, K. Rittger. Analyzing 22 years of snow darkening and dust radiative forcing from MODIS in the Upper Colorado River Basin. AGU Fall Meeting 2022 (Chicago). Presentation, Presented, 12/2022.
  • C. Ackroyd and S.M. Skiles. Retrieval of Snow Grain Size During Melt Season from UAV Lidar Intensity AGU Fall Meeting 2022 (Chicago). Presentation, Presented, 12/2022.
  • J. Meyer, S.M. Skiles, C. Steger. Improvements to snowmelt rate and timing using remotely sensed snow albedo and numerical weather prediction solar radiation data in a spatially distributed process-based snow model in the East River Watershed, Colorado, USA. AGU Fall Meeting 2022 (Chicago). Presentation, Presented, 12/2022.
  • O. Lang and S.M. Skiles. Are Record Low Great Salt Lake Levels Responsible for Record High Dust Concentrations? A Source to Sink Investigation of Dust-on-Snow Events in the Wasatch Mountains During the 2021-2022 Snow Season. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. Chicago. Presentation, Presented, 12/2022.
  • Monitoring the changing mountain snowpack from space. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate Colloquium. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/07/2022.
  • Snow Darkening Impacts on Climate and Hydrology. Kavli Frontiers of Science Israeli-American Symposium, National Academy of Sciences. Poster, Presented, 10/20/2022.
  • The Great Salt Lake and the Greatest Snow on Earth. Great Salt Lake Summit, Utah House of Representatives. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/13/2022.
  • Snow Pits to Mountain Peaks: Optical Remote Sensing for Snow Hydrology from the Micro- to Macro Scale (AGU Fall Meeting). Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2021.
  • Remote Sensing of Snow 1: Optical Remote Sensing, CUAHSU+SINTER Introduction to Snow Hydrology Webinar Series. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/26/2021.
  • Mapping the Changing Color of Snow and Implications for Accelerated Mountain Snowmelt. Texas A&M, Geography Colloquium. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/19/2021.
  • From Playas to Peaks: Monitoring Patterns of Dust Deposition and Impacts on Seasonal Snow Water Resources in the Western US, Duke University, Civil & Environmental Engineering Colloquium. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/12/2021.
  • From Playas to Peaks: Developing Infrastructure and Methods to Constrain Dust Dynamics and Monitor Impacts on Snow Water Resources in the Intermountain West. AGU Fall Meeting 2020. Poster, Presented, 12/17/2020.
  • Energy Balance Modeling in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/08/2020.
  • Remote sensing for Snow Hydrology. Snow, Ice, and Climate Talk Series. Dartmouth College. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/27/2020.
  • Skiles, S.M., et al., Advancing Remote Sensing Methods to Constrain Physical Understanding of Accelerated Mountain Snowmelt. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/10/2019.
  • Skiles, S.M, S. Clark, Snow research in the Wasatch Mountains: Dust and Drones. Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop, SLC, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/19/2019.
  • Skiles, S.M., The future is always not like the past: Implications of a changing mountain snowpack for avalanche dynamics. Wyoming Snow and Avalanche Workshop, Jackson Hole, WY. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/09/2019.
  • 'Climate Change and Winter: The Basics'. Protect Our Winters Volunteer Training, Salt Lake City, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/2019.
  • The Bootpack Show+Protect Our Winters Climate Change Panel. Panel, Presented, 09/2019.
  • Dust on Snow Impacts in the Upper Colorado River and Yampa River Basin. Yampa Basin Rendezvous, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 05/2019.
  • Skiles, S.M., et al., Implications of a shrinking Great Salt Lake for dust on snow deposition in the Wasatch Mountains. Department of Geology, University of Utah, SLC, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/2019.
  • Skiles, S. M., Mapping surface elevations and snow depth with Structure from Motion photogrammetry. Western Snow Conference Short Course, 87th Annual Western Snow Conference, Reno, NV. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/2019.
  • Skiles, S.M., et. al., Implications of a shrinking Great Salt Lake for dust on snow deposition in the Wasatch Mountains, UT. Swaner Lecture Series. Swaner Preserve and Ecocenter, Park City, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/2019.
  • Skiles, S.M., D. Mallia, A.G. Hallar, J.C. Lin, A. Lambert, R. Petersen, S. Clark, Implications of a shrinking Great Salt Lake for dust on snow deposition in the Wasatch Mountains. Great Salt Lake Technical Team. Utah Division of Natural Resources, SLC, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/2019.
  • Hinckley Institute 'Save Our Winters' Panel. Panel, Presented, 02/07/2019.
  • Skiles, S.M., Keynote: Climate and hydrology studies leveraging ASD VNIR spectral snow albedo measurements. Malvern Panalytical Webinar Series. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2018.
  • Skiles, S.M., J. Lund, T.H. Painter, Ground validation of Airborne Snow Observatory spectral and broadband albedo during SnowEx ’17. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Valencia, Spain. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 07/2018.
  • Skiles, S.M., Drones, Planes, and Satellites: Remote Sensing of Mountain Snow at Multiple Scales. Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Utah, SLC, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/2018.
  • Remote sensing of mountain snow water resources: Recent advances in high spatial and spectral resolution imagery. Center for Water, Earth Science, and Technology- CU Boulder, Boulder, CO. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/2018.
  • Painter, T.H. & S.M. Skiles (presenter). Advances and Opportunities in Alpine Measurements including Remote Sensing. 3rd Annual Workshop for the International Network for Alpine Research and Catchment Hydrology, Zugspitze, Germany. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/2018.
  • S.M. Skiles, J. Lund, T.H. Painter, Ground validation of Airborne Snow Observatory spectral and broadband albedo during SnowEx ’17. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (IGARSS), 2018. Invited Talk/Keynote, Submitted, 01/08/2018.
  • Remote sensing of the mountain snowpack: Monitoring snow water resources at multiple scales with drones, planes, and satellites. Department of Geology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/2018.
  • Skiles, S.M., Remote sensing of the mountain snowpack: Monitoring snow water resources at multiple scales with drones, planes, and satellites. Department of Geology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/2018.
  • From drone to ASO: Using structure from motion photogrammetry to map snow depth at multiple scales. American Geophysical Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana. Presentation, Presented, 12/2017.
  • Recent advances in measurements and modeling of snow hydrology in the Western US. Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/10/2017.
  • ASO Imaging Spectroscopy: Snow albedo, grain size, and radiative forcing. 2nd Annual Airborne Snow Observatory Workshop, Mammoth Lakes, CA. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/12/2017.
  • Applying Structure-from-Motion to Airborne Snow Observatory imagery from SnowEx Year 1 to build high resolution surface models. NASA SnowEx Annual Workshop. Longmont, CO. Presentation, Presented, 07/2017.
  • Constraining Physical Controls on Snow Hydrology along the Wasatch Front, UT. Western Snow Conference. Boise, ID. Presentation, Presented, 04/2017.
  • Recent advances in measurements and physically based modeling of snow hydrology in the Western US. Spring Runoff Conference, Logan, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/28/2017.
  • Skiles, S.M., T.H. Painter. Constraining regional energy and hydrologic modeling of the cryosphere with quantitative retrievals from imaging spectroscopy (Global Environmental Change Session). American Geophysical Union Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2016.
  • Using a Flying Thing in the Sky to See How Much Water is in the Cover of Tiny Ice Pieces in the High Places (Public Affairs Session; The Up-Goer Five Challenge: A fun and radical way to distill your science). American Geophysical Union Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2016.
  • From Ski Bum to Snow Scientist- Translating your passion into a STEM career, Empowering your Tomorrow STEM conference, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/12/2016.
  • Skiles, S.M., & T.H. Painter. A 9-yr record of dust-on-snow in the Colorado River Basin, Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau, doi: 10.3133/sir20155180. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 05/20/2016.
    https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20155180

Software Titles

  • Near real time snow remote sensing processing and analysis workflow for MODIS and AMSR-2. Open source toolset to download, mosaic, and merge publicly available snow covered area and snow water equivalent remote sensing datasets. Release Date: 05/2019. Inventors: S. McKenzie Skiles, Joachim Meyer. Distribution List: https://github.com/UofU-Cryosphere/servir-snow.
  • Airborne Snow Observatory Imagery Processing including Structure from Motion Workflow . Open source workflow to process and compare surface elevations from lidar and structure from motion . Release Date: 02/2019. Inventors: Joachim Meyer, S. McKenzie Skiles. Distribution List: https://github.com/UofU-Cryosphere/snow-aso.