Are you planning on using this Envirocast® on-air or on-line?
The images in this Envirocast®
Bulletin were taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
onboard NASA's
Aqua satellite on December 25, 2006. They show the
snow cover in Colorado on Christmas.
Snow Cover in Colorado
natural-color image
false-color image
The above MODIS images are from December 25,
2006. They show the snow cover in Colorado on Christmas.
In
visible images (true
color), it is sometimes difficult to tell the
difference between clouds and snow on the ground (under mostly
clear skies). Of course, if you have access to a sequence of
visible images, clouds will typically move in time while snow
cover won't. On the other hand, while looking at a single visible
image, meteorologists can determine whether a blotch of white is
snow cover by identifying rivers or lakes, which early in the cold
season, are ice- and snow-free and therefore appear as dark
fingers amidst white snow cover. Snow cover ends abruptly at the
coastlines.
We also provide
false color imagery.
In these false color images, clouds are white, water is black,
snow cover is in aqua color and vegetation is green.
Zoom-in to the Denver Area
Note: The animation above shows
how you can use the images to your right in your weathercast to
show the snow cover in the Denver area. Save each of the still
images on your right at the appropriate resolution for your system
(either 720x486 or 640x480) and dissolve from one to another in
sequence to achieve the above effect. This animation starts from
showing a clear day in Denver on September 4, 2006 with no snow,
the using natural-color and false-color images of
Denver on December 25, 2006 to show the snow cover in the
area on the Christmas day.
Environmental Impacts:
Eighteen inches of snow is forecast for
the Denver area starting Thursday, December 28, with as
much as 2 1/2 feet of snow in the foothills. If the wind
remains as strong as forecast (gusts up to 45mph), it
could easily whip the snow into blinding whiteouts by
Friday.
Last week's storm virtually shut down
life along the Front Range, the 170-mile corridor along
the foot of the Rockies that's home to 3.8 million people
in Denver, Colorado Springs and other cities. It dropped
up to 3 1/2 feet of snow in the mountains and 2 feet on
the Front Range.
Due to the last storm Denver's airport
was closed to all flights for 45 hours, leaving about
4,700 people stranded.
It was the biggest snowstorm to hit
Colorado since a March blizzard in 2003 that shut down the
region and killed six.
Supplementary Material:
NASA's AQUA Satellite:
Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA Earth
Science satellite mission collecting about the Earth's
water cycle, including evaporation from the oceans, water
vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, soil
moisture, sea ice, land ice, and snow cover on the land
and ice. The Aqua spacecraft (formally known as EOS-PM)
was successfully launched on May 4, 2002 at the Vandenberg
Air Force Base (VAFB) in Lompoc, California. t is flying
at an altitude of 705 km (438 miles) observing the Earth,
and the life expectancy is 6 years. [Aqua's
Orbit], [Animation
of MODIS Observing the Earth]
Aqua passes south to north over the equator
in the afternoon, and thus it passes over us at the same
local time every day, approximately 1:30 p.m.
NTSC TV Ready images 720x486
Image NTSC 720x486
This
natural-color MODIS image shows the snow cover in Colorado on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 720x486
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 720x486
This
false-color MODIS image shows the snow cover in Colorado on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 720x486
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 720x486
This
natural-color MODIS image shows the snow cover around Denver on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 720x486
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 720x486
This
false-colors MODIS image shows the snow cover around Denver on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 720x486
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 720x486
This
natural-color MODIS image shows the Denver area on
September
4, 2006, with no snow for comparison.
Image NTSC 720x486
Same as above (with no annotation).
NTSC
TV Ready images 640x480
Image NTSC 640x480
This
natural-color MODIS image shows the snow cover in Colorado on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 640x480
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 640x480
This
false-color MODIS image shows the snow cover in Colorado on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 640x480
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 640x480
This
natural-color MODIS image shows the snow cover around Denver on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 640x480
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 640x480
This
false-colors MODIS image shows the snow cover around Denver on
December 25, 2006.
Image NTSC 640x480
Same as above (with no annotation).
Image NTSC 640x480
This
natural-color MODIS image shows the Denver area on
September
4, 2006, with no snow for comparison.
Image NTSC 640x480
Same as above (with no annotation).
Envirocast®
Bulletin is a service of StormCenter
Communications, Inc. If you are having trouble downloading an image or
if you have any questions, please call StormCenter Communications at
410-203-1316.
Envirocast® is
a registered trademark of StormCenter Communications, Inc. Envirocast®
content is copyright StormCenter Communications, Inc. and is intended to be
used solely for those StormCenter customers using the Envirocast software or
receiving Envirocast via e-mail delivery directly from StormCenter
Communications, Inc. If you are not the intended addressee/recipient, you
are hereby notified that any use of, disclosure, copying, distribution, or
reliance on the contents of this E-Mail information is strictly prohibited.
To save the above TV-ready images from this page,
simply right-click on the thumbnail version and choose "Save Target
As..." (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link Target As..."
(Netscape) to save it to your computer's hard drive.
