On February 28, 2005, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite caught this view of snow in Europe. To make it easier to tell the difference between cloud and snow, the scene was created using both short wave infrared and visible light. The resulting combination makes the snow appear red, plant-covered areas look blue-green, and clouds appear white and light orange. By this point, the clouds had cleared over much of Eastern Europe, revealing snow to the eastern edge of the image. The image also provides a glimpse of southeastern Europe, including the Balkans, where winter blizzards resulted in states of emergency. North of the Balkans, the storms dumped up to 12 inches of snow in Vienna, and parts of the Czech Republic received 16 inches of snow, according to news reports.
References & Resources
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team.
