March 5, 2021 - Snow in the Western United States

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   Snow in the Western US
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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



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-03-05
 
