THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING RAPIDLY ESPECIALLY DURING THE WINTER MONTHS OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE CAUSING RAPID DECLINES IN THE EXTENT AND DURATION OF SNOWPACK ACROSS THE QUARTER OF THE PLANET THAT EXPERIENCES SEASONAL SNOW COVER. INDEED SINCE THE ONSET OF SATELLITE MONITORING IN THE 1960S SNOW COVER EXTENT HAS DECLINED EVERY DECADE BY AN AREA LARGER THAN THE STATE OF TEXAS. THIS LOSS OF SNOW COVER IS A FORM OF WIDESPREAD HABITAT LOSS FOR WINTER PLANTS AND ANIMALS THAT HAVE ADAPTED TO LIVING IN UNDER OR ON TOP OF A PROTECTIVE BLANKET OF SNOW. WITH A SHORTENING WINTER SEASON TREE ROOT SYSTEMS ARE LOSING THE INSULATION OF SNOW THAT PROTECTS THEM FROM EXTREME COLD FOREST FIRES ARE MORE COMMON IN AREAS OF REDUCED SNOWMELT AND ANIMALS DEPENDENT ON SNOW ARE RETREATING NORTHWARD OR UP IN ELEVATION. REGIONS EXPERIENCING THE LARGEST CHANGES IN SEASONAL SNOW COVER WILL LIKELY EXHIBIT LOSSES IN WINTER BIODIVERSITY AND REQUIRE FUTURE PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SGDS) ARE AN AMBITIOUS GLOBAL EFFORT OF SETTING BENCHMARKS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PLANET BY FOCUSING ON THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF EARTH S BIODIVERSITY. ONE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF SDG 15 IS TO ENSURE THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. IN THE UNITED STATES THE PRIMARY INDICATOR FOR ACHIEVING THIS GOAL IS THE REPRESENTATION OF IMPORTANT SITES FOR TERRESTRIAL BIODIVERSITY IN THE CURRENT NETWORK OF PROTECTED AREAS. WHILE AGENCIES INVEST SUBSTANTIAL RESOURCES IN MAPPING BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS THESE INITIATIVES DO NOT INCORPORATE CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND ARE HIGHLY BIASED TOWARDS EQUATORIAL REGIONS. AS A RESULT WINTER IS A CURRENT BLIND SPOT IN BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT ESPECIALLY IN REGIONS CHARACTERIZED BY SEASONAL SNOW COVER. OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE A NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF WINTER BIODIVERSITY FOR THE U.S. BASED ON DYNAMIC SNOW COVER CONDITIONS AS CAPTURED BY NASA SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS AND EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCH ASSESSMENTS TO INFORM PROTECTED AREA PLANNING AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION SCIENCE. TO DO SO WE WILL COMBINE TIME SERIES OF SATELLITE-BASED ESTIMATES OF SNOW COVER AND FROZEN GROUND WITH BIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FROM CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAMS AND STATE AGENCY MONITORING EFFORTS. WE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TWO RECENT REMOTE SENSING DATASETS: THE MODIS SNOW COVER PRODUCT AND THE NASA MEASURES GLOBAL RECORD OF DAILY LANDSCAPE FREEZE/THAW STATUS DATASET DERIVED FROM SSM/I AND SSMIS. WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY USED THESE DATASETS TO DEVELOP A NEW GLOBAL 500-M RESOLUTION DATASET DEPICTING THE DURATION OF SNOW-COVERED GROUND AND THE DURATION OF SNOW-FREE FROZEN GROUND. CURRENTLY WE ARE MAPPING THE SAME VARIABLES BASED ON 30-M LANDSAT DATA AS PART OF A USGS LANDSAT SCIENCE TEAM PROJECT. WE WILL USE BOTH MODIS- AND LANDSAT-BASED DATA TO DEVELOP NOVEL INDICES CAPTURING THE EXTENT DURATION AND VARIABILITY OF SEASONAL SNOW COVER ACROSS THE U.S. AT AN UNPRECEDENTED RESOLUTION. WE WILL THEN IDENTIFY REGIONS WHERE SNOW COVER DYNAMICS ARE CHANGING RAPIDLY AND USE THESE ESTIMATES TO DEVELOP SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELS PREDICTING THE OCCURRENCE OF COLD-ADAPTED BIRDS AND MAMMALS. OUR BIOLOGICAL DATA WILL COME FROM CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAMS AND SNOW TRACK AND FURBEARER SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY STATE AGENCIES. USING THESE DATA WE WILL IDENTIFY REGIONS OF HIGH BIODIVERSITY AND HOTSPOTS OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS AND ESTIMATE THE REPRESENTATION OF THESE AREAS WITHIN THE NETWORK OF PROTECTED AREAS. FINALLY WE WILL COLLABORATE WITH THE NATIONAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION SCIENCE CENTER AND THEIR NETWORK OF MANAGERS TO IDENTIFY AREAS THREATENED BY DECLINING AND VARIABLE SNOW COVER AND EXPLORE THE MANAGEMENT OF COLD-ADAPTED SPECIES. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH FULFILLS THE MISSIONS OF NASA S EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION BECAUSE THE SUSTAINABILITY AND CONSERVATION OF WINTER ENVIRONMENTS PRESENTS A NOVEL AND UNEXPLORED CONSERVATION CHALLENGE DURING AN ERA OF RAPID CLIMATE CHANGE AND A NEW FRONTIER FOR THE APPLICATION OF NASA SATELLITE AND DATA PRODUCTS.