Join the Global Snowflake Network
A macro shot of a snowflake.
Credit: Erica Marshall
See a larger version of this image.
Scientists are enlisting volunteers to document the shape of snowflakes around the world.
They’re calling it the Global Snowflake Network, part of the International Polar Year, which began in March 2007. Peter Wasilewski is an astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He’s been studying snow and ice for over 25 years. He started the Global Snowflake Network as a way to connect people wherever it snows.
So far, Wasilewski has recruited reindeer herders in Russia, and dog sled teams in Norway to help collect snowflake data. He told Earth & Sky that the snowflake shapes carry important information about winter weather. They vary within the course of the storm and over the entire season.
Peter Wasilewski: The same hour of the day, but different parts of the storm, you get different kinds of snowflakes. The temperature at which it grows will determine it’s shape. It’ll be a star, it’ll be a needle, it’ll be a plate.
The website for the Global Snowflake Network provides information to help you identify different types of snowflakes, and then you can add your location and observations to the project. By the way, we asked but one question they won’t be tackling … whether or not any two snowflakes are alike.
Visit the Global Snowflake Network website for more information. Thanks today to NASA, in celebration of the International Polar Year.
Do you live where it snows? Join the effort at the Global Snowflake Network’s website
View a video introduction to the Global Snowflake Network
Why is snowfall quiet and warm?
Out thanks to:
Peter Wasileski
Astrophysicist
NASA Goddard Center for Space Flight
Greenbelt, Maryland
