Snow topped mountain peaks while low clouds filled valleys in the Pacific Northwest in January 2009.
Published Jan 28, 2009
Satellite sensors help distinguish snow and ice from clouds and fog.
Published Feb 1, 2018Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Unique Imagery Snow and Ice Remote Sensing
Snow stretches from the English Channel north under a bank of clouds near the Scottish border in this photo-like image of England, taken on February 4, 2009.
Published Feb 4, 2009
Clouds and snow whiten different parts of central Europe in this image from early November 2011.
Published Nov 15, 2011
Acquired February 21, 2010, these true- and false-color images of British Columbia show fog filling mountain valleys northeast of Vancouver. In the false-color image, vegetation appears bright green, snow appears bright turquoise, and fog appears as a very pale, muted blue-green.
Published Feb 23, 2010
In a photo-like satellite image, the faintest of shadows or shading of grey may give them away, but more often, clouds over the poles simply disappear against the background, camouflaged from the satellite’s view by the underlying snow and sea ice. For those trying to track clouds from space, to understand cloud physics, say, or to predict the weather, the problem is frustrating. Only with a combination of visible and invisible wavelengths of light, such as infrared light, do clouds become distinct from the snow and ice below.
Published Feb 3, 2007
