snow – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

How the World’s Saltiest Pond gets its Salt

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2013Environmentboston university, brown university, chloride bearing salts, closed basins, dark streaks, data, david marchant, dead sea, deliquescence, don juan pond, dry valleys, flowing water, frozen desert, geologists, groundwater, high salt content, jay dickson, jim head, joseph levy, mars, mcmurdo dry valleys, moisture, oregon state, permafrost layer, present day mars, red planet, relative humidity, salinity of antarctica, salt, saltiest pond, snow, soil, temperature, time lapse photography, water tracks, world

Jay Dickson and Jim Head have gathered time-lapse photography and other data about the sustained salinity of Antarctica’s Don Juan Pond, the most saline natural body of water on earth. Their findings, published online in Scientific Reports, suggest that such ponds could be possible on Mars.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Antarctica’s Don Juan Pond might be the unlikeliest body of water on Earth. Situated in the frigid McMurdo Dry Valleys, only the pond’s high salt content — by far the highest of any body of water on the planet — keeps it from freezing into oblivion. (more…)

NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

By Guest PostSeptember 13, 2012Sciencecarbon dioxide, data, david kass, dry ice, frozen, ice, jpl, mars, mars climate sounder, martian air, martian atmosphere, NASA, particle, paul hayne, phoenix lander, polar caps, reconnaissance orbiter, red planet, residual cap, snow, snow cloud, snowfall, solar system, water

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon-dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon-dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system.

Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as “dry ice,” requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is much colder than needed for freezing water. Carbon-dioxide snow reminds scientists that although some parts of Mars may look quite Earth-like, the Red Planet is very different. The report is being published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. (more…)

The Depths of Winter: How Much Snow Is In Fact On the Ground?

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2012Nature, Scienceavalanches, boulder, caltech, cocorahs, crystal, ethan gutmann, floods, global picture, gps technology, humidity, hydrologic sciences, kenneth libbrecht, kristine larson, lasers, mountainous areas, national science foundation, ncar, noaa, plate like snowflakes, prototype devices, rocky mountains, snow, snow crystals, snow depth, snow gauges, snowfalls, stellar dendrite crystals, stellar dendrites, stellar plate, thomas torgersen, tree like, ultrasonic devices, ultrasonic energy, university of colorado, weather challenge, winds, wintertime, yardsticks

*Will lasers and GPS technology finally enable accurate measurement of snowfall?*

Equipped with specialized lasers and GPS technology, scientists are working to address a critical wintertime weather challenge: how to accurately measure the amount of snow on the ground.

Transportation crews, water managers and others who make vital safety decisions need precise measurements of how snow depth varies across wide areas. (more…)

Shrinking Snow and Ice Cover Intensify Global Warming

By Guest PostJanuary 19, 2011Environmentalbedo feedback, atmospheric carbon dioxide, atmospheric cooling effect, atmospheric water vapor, climate, climate perturbations, cryosphere, cryospheric albedo feedback, cryospheric feedback, earth, eastern sierras, global warming, ice cover, ice melts, karen shell, mark flanner, models, northern hemisphere, satellite data, snow, snowfall, sun light

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The decreases in Earth’s snow and ice cover over the past 30 years have exacerbated global warming more than models predict they should have, on average, new research from the University of Michigan shows.

To conduct this study, Mark Flanner, assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, analyzed satellite data showing snow and ice during the past three decades in the Northern Hemisphere, which holds the majority of the planet’s frozen surface area. The research is newly published online in Nature Geoscience. (more…)

Tag Archives: snow

How the World’s Saltiest Pond gets its Salt

NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

The Depths of Winter: How Much Snow Is In Fact On the Ground?

Shrinking Snow and Ice Cover Intensify Global Warming