1 00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:04,140 [off camera] NASA's been looking at snow from space for decades, but 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,220 NASA is in the field right now to learn a little bit more. Here to tell us a little about it is Dr. 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:12,340 Dalia Kirschbaum from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Thank you for joining 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,530 us. [Kirschbaum] Thanks for having me. [off camera] NASA satellites see snow cover from space 5 00:00:16,550 --> 00:00:20,580 how does this winter compare to previous years? [Kirschbaum] Well NASA's Earth observing 6 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,660 fleet can look at everything - look at our oceans, our atmospheres 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,730 and even over land where we can see snow. Now snow varies from year to year 8 00:00:28,750 --> 00:00:32,820 and month to month. And one interesting thing we've observed is 9 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,910 out in the Sierra Nevadas. Two years ago we had snowpack that only one 10 00:00:36,930 --> 00:00:41,120 quarter of normal. Now compare it to this year, we see 180 percent 11 00:00:41,140 --> 00:00:45,310 of normal, the most in almost 20 years. And that's very important for understanding 12 00:00:45,330 --> 00:00:49,490 our freshwater resources. [off camera] NASA scientists are in the field right now, 13 00:00:49,510 --> 00:00:53,570 testing advanced technologies to measure snow like never before. What will 14 00:00:53,590 --> 00:00:57,690 these new measurements tell us about snow? [Kirschbaum] Well NASA's been observing snow cover 15 00:00:57,710 --> 00:01:01,850 from space for decades, but what we really want to understand is snow depth and how much 16 00:01:01,870 --> 00:01:05,900 fresh water is stored. And that helps us to understand and forecast rive flow 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,980 and water availability. So a new snow campaign going on in Colorado 18 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,070 called SnowEx uses advanced airborne instruments to measure 19 00:01:14,090 --> 00:01:18,210 these processes with the goal of ultimately putting this type of instrument on 20 00:01:18,230 --> 00:01:22,390 a future satellite to look at global snow depth around the world. 21 00:01:22,410 --> 00:01:26,440 [off camera] Can NASA see falling snow from space? [Kirschbaum] Yes. 22 00:01:26,460 --> 00:01:30,520 Snow is tricky to measure, but the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM 23 00:01:30,540 --> 00:01:34,610 is specifically designed to look at snow layer by layer through the storm 24 00:01:34,630 --> 00:01:38,750 even at the tops of hurricanes. And that if very important for improving 25 00:01:38,770 --> 00:01:42,890 our weather forecasting and understand extreme events such as the one you see here 26 00:01:42,910 --> 00:01:46,930 from GPM in 2015, a Nor’easter that went on to 27 00:01:46,950 --> 00:01:51,000 effect New England. And having this vantage point of space is vital for 28 00:01:51,020 --> 00:01:55,090 understanding not just what's happening over land, but over areas we don't see 29 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:59,200 much information from the ground such as over mountains and our oceans. 30 00:01:59,220 --> 00:02:03,290 [off camera] Up to 70 percent of water resources in the western U.S. comes from 31 00:02:03,310 --> 00:02:07,330 snowmelt. California has been getting heavy snow and rain recently. Is the drought 32 00:02:07,350 --> 00:02:11,410 over there? [Kirschbaum] Well these huge atmospheric rivers that are coming off the 33 00:02:11,430 --> 00:02:15,500 Pacific have dumped a tremendous amount of rainfall and snow at high altitudes in California 34 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,650 and this has gone a long way in alleviating the drought conditions. But that's 35 00:02:19,670 --> 00:02:23,700 mostly at the surface. The groundwater takes a lot longer to replenish. 36 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,770 and is critical for irrigation. And that will take several more years of 37 00:02:27,790 --> 00:02:31,840 an above average rainfall before it's back to normal. [off camera] How does snow 38 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:35,930 impact parts of the country that rarely see any snowfall? [Kirschbaum] Well if you go to 39 00:02:35,950 --> 00:02:40,080 any grocery store, nearly half of the produce you see there actually came from the Central Valley 40 00:02:40,100 --> 00:02:44,180 of California. And the water used to irrigate those crops that 41 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,310 originated for the most part in the Sierra Nevadas. So understanding how much snow 42 00:02:48,330 --> 00:02:52,460 we have there has wide-reaching implications across the U.S. 43 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,510 affecting our produce. But that's only part of the story, a sixth of the world 44 00:02:56,530 --> 00:03:00,550 relies on season snowpack 45 00:03:00,570 --> 00:03:04,630 to better understand all of those processes from space. 46 00:03:04,650 --> 00:03:08,850 [off camera] Where can we learn more? [Kirschbaum] You can go to snow.nasa.gov where 47 00:03:08,870 --> 00:03:13,040 you can learn how NASA and its partners are uncovering advanced technologies to 48 00:03:13,060 --> 00:03:17,110 understand snow in our backyards and around the world. [off camera] Thanks for joining us. 49 00:03:17,130 --> 00:03:17,744 [Kirschbaum] Thanks for having me.