NOAA's Real-Time Response

Better understanding current and historical snow cover improves our ability to predict future changes and adapt to changing climate conditions.

• +

  Satellites provide accurate local and global measurements of snowfall extents and impacts. A winter storm dumped one and a half feet of snow in some areas of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma on February 25-26. This high resolution visible image of the snow cover was captured On February 26, 2013 by the Suomi NPP satellite. NPP's advanced VIIRS instrument captures visible pictures of the Earth below in a resolution far greater than previous weather satellites, increasing the accuracy and detail of weather and environmental monitoring.

• +

  
  The National Weather Service generates high resolution snow analyses used by many sectors, and satellite data play an important role in these analyses. The National Operational Hydrologic remote Sensing Center or NOHRSC products and services support a wide variety of government and private-sector applications in water resource management, disaster emergency preparedness, and weather and flood forecasting, agriculture, transportation, and commerce. This assimilation of information was developed on February 20, 2013, for both the West Coast mountain ranges and the Northeast. The graph on the right shows the range in amounts of snow cover.

• +

  
  Rutgers University uses NOAA Daily Snow Maps to assess climate variability and change, and in investigations regarding the role of snow cover in the climate system. The above chart shows snow cover extent for March 4th across Northern Hemisphere(left) and the average snow cover extent for the last month (right) based on Rutgers GSL analysis of NOAA daily snow maps. Despite their proven climate utility, meteorological forecasting has been the driving force behind producing these maps. The daily snow charts are now produced at NIC and utilized at Rutgers to create a unique Northern Hemisphere snow cover product.

• +

  
  National Ice Center (NIC) serves maritime interests around the world. The remoteness of the Polar Regions limits the amount of direct observation of sea ice. Hence, more than 95 percent of the data used in sea ice analyses are derived from the remote sensors on polar-orbiting satellites. Sea ice analyses and forecasts are primarily prepared using satellite imagery and ice reconnaissance. The NOAA National Ice Center, located in the NOAA Satellite Operations Center in Suitland MD, is a joint NOAA, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy office that produces snow and sea ice charts for the Coastal United States, Great Lakes, and other regions. NIC sea ice cover products are used by military, first responders, and commercial shipping and fishing industries to ensure safe navigation.