Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R Series

A collaborative program of NOAA and NASA

Snow Cover

Example of the Snow Cover product (right figure) as generated by the GOES-R Snow Cover algorithm using MODIS data (left image) over the Colorado Rockies on 30 April 2007.

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The fractional Snow Cover algorithm uses GOES-R ABI spectral information in the visible and near-visible portion of the energy spectrum to retrieve sub-pixel fractional Snow Cover and grain size estimates via computationally efficient spectral mixture modeling. This product will support a number of operational applications that include: assimilation into NOAA’s NOHRC snow model, as well as hydrologic forecasts and warnings, including river and flood forecasts, water management, snowpack monitoring and analysis, and climate studies.