File:Snow and Fog in France and Spain (MODIS 2021-12-19).jpg
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Summary
[edit]DescriptionSnow and Fog in France and Spain (MODIS 2021-12-19).jpg |
English: A cool autumn morning brought large banks of fog to southern France and northern Spain in mid-December 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of the spectacular scene on December 15.
The snow-covered heights of the Pyrenees Mountains courses along the border of France (north) and Spain (south), flanked by massive banks of low cloud (fog). Both fog and snow are highly reflective, so both appear white in a true-color image. Because of the similar reflectivity and color, sometimes it’s difficult to separate the two just by looking, but there are a few characteristics that may be helpful. Snow tends to be very bright white with a generally smooth appearance, while fog leans towards a duller white color and usually looks to be finely textured. Topography is helpful as well: fog spreads across low plains, forms over rivers, and creeps into the lower valleys of hills and mountains. Snow can fall anywhere, of course, but bright white covering the high elevations is almost always snow. The reason that fog lays low over the land is a result of how it is formed. Radiative fog develops over land when the humidity is high and the sky is initially clear, especially in the long nights of autumn. The ground, which is warmed by the sun’s ray (radiant energy) during the day, quickly loses heat in cool temperatures after the sun sets. This loss of radiant energy from the ground cools the adjacent air to below its dew point, so droplets of air form in the air right above the ground. On calm nights with little wind, this cooling effect can extend far above the surface, creating a layer of thick fog. |
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Date | Taken on 15 December 2021 | ||
Source |
Snow and Fog in France and Spain (direct link)
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Author | MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
This media is a product of the Aqua mission Credit and attribution belongs to the mission team, if not already specified in the "author" row |
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[edit]Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
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