[slate]
Well NASA's Earth observing
fleet can look at everything from our atmospheres to our oceans -
even on land in our backyard measuring snow. Now snow can vary from year to year
and month to month. And an interesting thing that we've observed is for example
west in the Sierra Nevadas we saw snowpack just two years ago that was only
a quarter of their normal totals. Now compared to this year we have 180 percent
of normal. And understanding the water stored there is very important for
better managing our fresh water resources. [second sound bite]
Well it's interesting NASA's Earth observing fleet can look at everything from our atmosphere to
our oceans, even on land in our backyard measuring snow.
Now snow can vary from year to year and month to month. So one of the interesting things we've
observed from this year is out in the Sierra Nevadas. You know just
a couple of years ago we had snowpack that was only a quarter of normal. And now
compared to this year, we see snowpack that's 180 percent of normal.
The most in almost 20 years. And understanding where that water is stored is very
important for freshwater resources across the U.S.
[slate]
You know we've been measuring,
NASA has been measuring snowcover from space for decades. But what we really want to
understand is snow depth and how much water is stored. And that's very important for
forecasting our river flows and better understanding where we can help with agriculture.
A new campaign going on right now in Colorado called SnowEx is
putting instruments on aircraft to look specifically
at this process. Looking at snow depth. And the goal
is to put these instruments someday in a satellite that can look at snow
depth both around the world here but ultimately look at ice
on other planets. [second sound bites] You know we've been measuring snow from space
snowcover for decades. But what we really want to understand is that
snow depth, or that water storage which tells us a lot about forecasting our rivers
flow or freshwater resources. So a new snow campaign going in Colorado
right now is using advanced airborne instruments to better understand
that snow depth, ultimately with the goal of putting these instruments on
a future satellite to look at snow depth globally. And
that will be critical for better understanding not just what's happening here,
but around the world.
[slate]
Yes. Well snow is really tricky to measure but the Global Precipitation
Measurement mission or GPM is specifically designed to measure falling snow.
GPM can see layer by layer through the storm. Now this is really important to improve our weather forecasting
and understand extreme events. So with this vantage point of space
we're able to see how storms are changing and moving. Even at the tops of hurricanes
And we can do this over land, but also
areas where we have very few observations such as over the mountains or over
our oceans. [second soundbite] Well snow is really tricky
to measure. But the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM is actually
specifically designed to measure falling snow layer by layer through the storm
and even at the top of hurricanes. And so by being able to have this vantage point of
space we're able to see how snow storm are improving or changing
and also ultimately help inform weather forecasting.
What you see here is a storm that's a Nor'easter in 2015. And being
able to see over our oceans tells us a lot about how these storms move and
ultimately how we can better predict them in the future.
[slate]
Well the huge atmospheric rivers that have been delivering
tremendous amounts of rain and snow at high altitudes to California
have gone a long way in alleviating some of the surface drought conditions. But the ground
water takes a lot longer to replenish and we're going to need a couple more years of above
average rainfall before we get back to normal conditions out there.
[second soundbite] Well the atmospheric rivers that we're seeing right now coming off
the Pacific and effecting the California area have gone a long
way in alleviating the drought out there, but that's just a surface drought. The groundwater
is still going to take a little bit longer to replenish and we need a couple more years
of above average rainfall. But that's just actually only part of the story
about a sixth of the world relies on what you see here glaciers and snowpack
So what NASA is working to do is better understand water resources at the global scale
[slate]
Well if you go to any
supermarket, you know much of the produce that comes from
California, specifically the fruits and nuts. And the water
used to irrigate those crops in California’s Central Valley actually originated in
snowpack for the most part in the Sierra Nevadas. So understanding
how much snowpack we have, how much water we have stored can actually have wide-ranging
impacts on produce across the U.S. But that's only part of the story.
Nearly a sixth of the world relies on season snowpack
and glaciers for their water. So at NASA our goal is to use
Earth observing satellites to better understand and monitor our
freshwater resources from space. [slate]
[slate]
You can go to snow.nasa.gov where NASA
and partners are developing new technologies to better understand snow in our backyard
as well as around the world.