Viewing April Snow From Space
By Gil Simmons on April 25, 2012, 12:12pm
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A view from space showing snow on the ground across Western New York, Pa., MD, and WV. I circled the area with visible snow-cover in red. Visible satellite imagery is key in analyzing certain features during the daylight hours!
Visible satellite imagery is similar to a camera snapping a picture high up in altitude over earth. Many features can be picked out. Snow on this image stands out for two reasons.
- Snow has a high albedo. In easier terms ...snow reflects sunlight easier making it show up as a bight white surface. Snow has an albedo value of 0.9 on a scale that maxes out at 1.0 and starts at zero. Zero is the highest absortion and lowest reflection value such as a dark pavement surface.
- The second key to identifying snow in this image: dark little lines that show up indicating valleys and rivers. They are darker due to the snow-less surfaces.
The area of white near and over Connecticut is an area of developing cloudiness.
Here are some of the original snow storm totals mapped out from the local National Weather Service office in State College, Pa.
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