Snow study aids adaptation to warmer world
A team of Polar Huskies treks through the Alaskan Arctic to collect snow samples.
DB: This is Earth & Sky. In preparing for a warmer world, some scientists are studying snow.
James Foster: It’s very important in terms of hydrology. In western locations, perhaps 75% of the stream flow is derived from melting snow.
JB: That was James Foster of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He helped find the funding for a project going on now to study snow in Alaska. A group of seven – scientists and teachers – accompanied by two dog teams – are collecting snow from five sites in the Alaskan Arctic. They call their expedition Go North!
DB: The collected snow samples will be preserved in nitrogen and sent to Maryland, where they’ll be peered at under microscopes. Scientists want to see what size and shape snow crystals are in different parts of the Arctic. They’ll compare these measurements to assumptions made by the Aqua satellite in its measurements of the thickness of Arctic snow packs. The results will confirm the accuracy of the satellite estimates and help scientists predict where melting snow will go.
James Foster: So if we can get a better handle on how much water is stored in the snow pack, especially in mountainous water sheds, we’ll be more confident in being able to forecast how much snow will melt and will be delivered for industrial purposes and commercial use, recreation, that sort of thing.
JB: For more, come to earthsky.org. Our thanks today to NASA. I’m Joel Block with Deborah Byrd for Earth & Sky.
Follow the expedition on the Go North! web site.
For more information about NASA’s Earth observing satellites visit the Earth Observatory.
Our thanks to:
James Foster
Hydrologist
Goddard Space Flight Center
Additional Teacher Resources
NASA: Scientists in Dogged Pursuit of Amount of Snow on Earth Embark on Arctic Trek
An expedition into the frozen Arctic using dogsled teams kicks off March 12 from Alaska to help NASA find out how much snow blankets the Earth. The trek is one leg of a multi-sponsor five-year Go North! expedition made up of multiple dogsled treks that will explore the Arctic in pursuit of environmental samples and observations.
NASA: History of Winter Project
The “Go North” Project and the History of Winter main webpage. This site includes a variety of resources, videos, and other multi-media functions on snow study and climate change.
