Images
March 5, 2021 - Snow in the Western United States
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Late-winter snow clung to high elevations and northern flatlands in early March 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the winter scene on March 1. Snow stretched from Colorado to California (east to west) and from Montana to New Mexico (north to south).
In this true-color image, the bright white snow is easy to visualize, and so are the bright white clouds. Where cloud floats over snow, however, it is hard to see the difference. Snow coats most vegetation, turning it white, so with a few exceptions the entire scene suggests that the Western United States is basically either dry, open land or covered with a blanket of snow. The image, which uses visible light to show the Earth like a human would view it, is both beautiful and useful—but there’s more to this landscape that meets the eye.
To see where vegetation lies under thin snow and to separate snow from cloud in scenes such as this one, scientists can turn to many tools, including false-color imagery. It can be interesting and informative to compare two different types of images of the same scene on the same day. Thanks to the NASA Worldview app, comparing different types of images couldn’t be easier. To see a comparison of the same image using MODIS Bands 1-4-3 (true-color) and one created by using MODIS Bands 7-2-1 (false color) click
here
When looking at this false-color image, which uses both visible light and infrared, you’ll see that snow and ice stands out in striking electric blue while cloud remains white. High cloud, which contains ice crystals, will have a faint tint of electric blue as well. Vegetation lights up as green—ranging from bright light green to deeper forest green. Open soil appears as a range of brown or tan. This color combination is widely used to study snow and ice, especially in cloudy regions.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 3/1/2021
Resolutions:
1km (1.2 MB), 500m (2.9 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Late-winter snow clung to high elevations and northern flatlands in early March 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the winter scene on March 1. Snow stretched from Colorado to California (east to west) and from Montana to New Mexico (north to south).
In this true-color image, the bright white snow is easy to visualize, and so are the bright white clouds. Where cloud floats over snow, however, it is hard to see the difference. Snow coats most vegetation, turning it white, so with a few exceptions the entire scene suggests that the Western United States is basically either dry, open land or covered with a blanket of snow. The image, which uses visible light to show the Earth like a human would view it, is both beautiful and useful—but there’s more to this landscape that meets the eye.
To see where vegetation lies under thin snow and to separate snow from cloud in scenes such as this one, scientists can turn to many tools, including false-color imagery. It can be interesting and informative to compare two different types of images of the same scene on the same day. Thanks to the NASA Worldview app, comparing different types of images couldn’t be easier. To see a comparison of the same image using MODIS Bands 1-4-3 (true-color) and one created by using MODIS Bands 7-2-1 (false color) click here
When looking at this false-color image, which uses both visible light and infrared, you’ll see that snow and ice stands out in striking electric blue while cloud remains white. High cloud, which contains ice crystals, will have a faint tint of electric blue as well. Vegetation lights up as green—ranging from bright light green to deeper forest green. Open soil appears as a range of brown or tan. This color combination is widely used to study snow and ice, especially in cloudy regions.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 3/1/2021
Resolutions:
1km (1.2 MB), 500m (2.9 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
