A new project harnesses the power of the winter backcountry recreation community to gather data that are vital to understanding snow, from winter hazards to water resources.
snow
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Brown Carbon from Increased Shipping Could Harm Arctic Ice
Emission from a ship’s engine gives clues to how much light-absorbing molecules may build up on and above snow and sea ice. Such emissions are likely to increase as more ships venture into the Arctic.
Posted inScience Updates
How Can We Find Out How Much Snow Is in the World?
In Colorado forests, NASA scientists and a multinational team of researchers test the limits of satellite remote sensing for measuring the water content of snow.
Posted inScience Updates
Snowfall Rates from Satellite Data Help Weather Forecasters
A new data product calculates snowfall rates from weather data beamed directly from several satellites, helping meteorologists provide fast, accurate weather reports and forecasts.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Peering Beneath the Powder: Using Radar to Understand Avalanches
High-resolution radar images from Switzerland’s experimental test site show that snow temperature is a key factor in classifying avalanche behavior.
Posted inScience Updates
U.S. and China Assess Ecosystem Effects of a Fading Cryosphere
Impacts of a Changing Cryosphere on Lakes and Streams in Mountain Regions: US-China Collaborative Workshop at Qinghai Lake; Qinghai, China, 21–27 August 2017
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Does Snow Affect the Intensity of Mountain Precipitation?
A new investigation into the sensitivity of extreme precipitation in a changing climate indicates that more winter rainfall and protracted snowmelt may require local adaptations to winter flooding impacts.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Reducing Errors in Satellite-Derived Arctic Sea Ice Thicknesses
Salty snow throws off satellite-based estimates of Arctic sea ice thickness by up to 25%. A new method seeks to fix that.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Cosmic Ray Neutrons Reveal Mountain Snowpacks
The first application of aboveground neutron sensing to evaluate alpine snowpacks indicates that this method can reliably detect average snow depth and water content across intermediate distances.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How the Micrometeorology of Alpine Forests Affects Snowmelt
A field study in the Swiss Alps showed considerable spatial and temporal variability in forest air and surface temperatures, with implications for snowmelt models.