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Narrator: The snow day.

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For some, a cozy winter wonderland.

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For others, it means hazardous roads and lots of shoveling.

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Snowstorms are among the most difficult storms to measure from space

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and for forecast models to predict.

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The same storm can bring vastly different snowfall totals to nearby areas.

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This creates a lot of uncertainty for how a storm

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will impact those living in its path.

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Dr. Lynn McMurdie: The thing is about snowstorms is they may be really broad in general

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but specifics inside them, there’s some places that get a lot of snow and a lot of places that don’t.

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The ones that get a lot of snow are usually because they are underneath these narrow regions called snowbands,

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and we don’t understand how those snowbands form

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and become regions of intense snowfall.

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So, we’ve decided we need to go out there and measure them better in order to help improve our forecasting

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Narrator: NASA’s Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for

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Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms, or IMPACTS campaign,

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will take a comprehensive look at the mechanics of East Coast snowstorms

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in hopes to improve forecast models.

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From the ground, Doppler radar will track snowfall distribution

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and intensity, this will be alongside weather balloons

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that will be released to gather profiles of the storm.

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A little higher up, NASA’s P3 aircraft

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will fly inside the snow-producing clouds to see

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what type of snow is developing, as well as deploy instruments

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that will gather profile measurements of temperature, humidity, and wind.

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And above the storm,

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NASA’s ER-2 aircraft will monitor the snowstorm using the same

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instruments as satellites. The radar will allow scientists

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to see inside the clouds and help improve

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how snowstorms are studied from space.

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This multi-institutional study will be conducted

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over the next three winters, with the team hoping to profile

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as many storms as possible.

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This study aims to close the knowledge gap on snowstorms

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and help scientists improve how they interpret satellite data

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and incorporate them into weather forecast models.