SnowEx: To assess how much water does snow contain
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Science & Technology
In News
In order to better understand how water is contained in each winter’s snowfall and how much will be available when it melts in the spring, NASA has launched a seasonal campaign called SnowEx.
The goal is to address the most important gaps in our snow remote sensing knowledge, and thus lay the groundwork for a future snow satellite mission.
SnowEx assesses where snow has fallen, how much there is and how its characteristics change as it melts. It uses airborne measurements, ground measurements and computer modelling
The geographical focus of SnowEx is proposed as North America which contains the six broad snow climate categories identified in the literature: tundra (alpine or Arctic), taiga (Boreal forest), warm (temperate) forest, maritime, prairie, and ephemeral.
