High-Resolution Image

Mean values of the spectral white-sky albedo of snow-covered surfaces of the Northern Hemisphere as derived from five years of Terra MODIS data. These data have been aggregated as a function of IGBP ecosystem classification, and were derived from 2000-2004 MOD43B3 collection 4 data. Sea ice is excluded from this analysis.

Over permanent snow and barren ecosystems, snow is very reflective in the visible wavelength region, but in the presence of evergreen needleleaf forest or mixed forest, the albedo of the land-snow system is greatly reduced. In the shortwave infrared, on the other hand, all ecosystems are very dark with average surface albedo of around 0.05 (or 5%) at 2.13 µm.

For more information, see Northern Hemisphere Five-year Average (2000-2004) Spectral Albedos of Surfaces in the Presence of Snow: Statistics Computed from Terra MODIS Land Products, by E. G. Moody, M. D. King, C. B. Schaaf, D. K. Hall, and S. Platnick, Remote Sens. Environ., 111, 337-345, 2007. (Submitted by M. D. King)