What is snow cover

It originates in clouds when temperatures are below the freezing point 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses directly into ice without going through the liquid stage. Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals.

These snow cover maps are made from observations collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASAs Terra satellite.

What is snow cover. Snow Cover Key Points. When averaged over the entire year snow covered an average of 324 million square miles of North America. Snow cover refers to the amount of land covered by snow at any given time.

Naturally it is influenced by. Snow cover reflects about 80 to 90 of the suns energy back into the atmosphere allowing it to help regulate the exchange of heat between the Earths surface and the atmosphere thereby cooling the planet. In addition to helping keep the atmosphere cool snow cover also helps keep the ground warm.

Working like an insulating blanket snow cover holds heat in the ground beneath it and. Snow cover is an important part of Earths environment. Because it reflects most of the sunlight that hits it snow helps to cool Earths surface.

Many areas of the world rely on snowmelt for drinking water and water for their crops. So scientists monitor where and. These snow cover maps are made from observations collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASAs Terra satellite.

Snow cover values range from medium blue greater than 0 percent to white 100 percent. Landmasses that do not sustain snow cover and places where MODIS did not collect data are gray. Because MODIS relies on visible light to assess snow.

Snow cover is a part of the cryosphere which traces its origins to the Greek word kryos for frost. Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals. It originates in clouds when temperatures are below the freezing point 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses directly into ice without going through the liquid stage.

The Normalized Difference Snow Index NDSI snow cover is an index that is related to the presence of snow in a pixel and is a more accurate description of snow detection as compared to Fractional Snow Cover FSC. Snow typically has very high visible VIS reflectance and very low reflectance in the shortwave infrared SWIR a characteristic used to detect snow by distinguishing between snow and most cloud types. Snow Cover Maps.

And Northern Hemisphere snow cover maps that are provided by the US. National Ice Center will no longer be served through this website or any NCEI website. The maps are still provided via the US.

National Ice Centers website and are available here. Information presented on this website - ie. The snow cover map for Europe above and plots of snow cover extent below - will help you to answer those questions.

The information results from satellite monitoring of climate conditions in Poland and Europe conducted by Earth Observation Group at Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences CBK PAN. Presented analysis are based. Light blue areas indicate the sea ice extent white colors indicate all other areas covered in snow.

Historic World Snow Cover 15 Year Animation. Global Maps Snow Cover Series Snow Cover. Contact Us Mobile.

Never base any life decisions on weather information from this site or anywhere over the Internet. Site is dedicated to our Lord Savior Jesus Christ Random Quotes of. Based on Rutgers GSL analysis of NOAA daily snow maps.

For more results including the monthly departure from normal for this and other months back to the late 1960s click the map. Annual snow cover extent SCE over Northern Hemisphere lands averaged 241 million square kilometers in 2020. This is 10 million sq.

Km less than the 51-year average and ranks as the 4th least extensive cover. Learn About Snow Cover The snow forecast map shows the forecast snowfall in inches for the current day. Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice consisting of a.

Snow cover is highly sensitive to changes in temperature freezingthaw and precipitation snowfall rain hail and affects directly the albedo and thus the energy balance of the Earths surface. It is a relevant input parameter for weather forecasts and climate change observations. Snow stores a significant mass of water and with its high dynamic has a strong effect on regional and.

Snow influences the climate and climate-related systems because of its high reflectivity insulating properties effects on water resources and ecosystems and cooling of the atmosphere. A decrease in snow cover accelerates climate change. In Europe about half of the population lives in areas that have snow cover in January in an average winter.

Changes in snow cover affect human. Snirt Snirt is an informal term for snow covered with dirt especially where strong winds pick up topsoil from uncovered farm fields and blow it into nearby snowy areas. Also dirty snow left over from plowing operations.

Spring snow Spring snow describes a variety of temperature and moisture conditions with corn snow. Definition ofsnow-covered adjective usually ADJECTIVE noun Snow-covered places and things are covered over with snowa Swiss chalet set in the snow-covered hills. A 2007 estimate of snow cover over the Northern Hemisphere suggested that on average snow cover ranges from a minimum extent of 2 million square kilometres 077 10 6 sq mi each August to a maximum extent of 45 million square kilometres 17 10 6 sq mi each January or nearly half of the land surface in that hemisphere.

Northern hemisphere weekly snow cover since January 1972 according to Rutgers University Global Snow Laboratory. The thin blue line is the weekly data and the thick blue line is the running 53 week average approximately 1 year. The horizontal red line is the 1972-2020 average.

Week 18 in 2021. Map depicting snow cover from light to heavy across the US. 24 Hour Precip Estimate.

Current US Dew Point. US Precipitation Forecast.