Snow from space: University of Leicester releases satellite images of snow-bound UK
Satellite images of UK under snow available
IMAGE: This is an image of snow-bound UK from space by MERIS on Nov. 29. Click here for more information.
Earth observation scientists at the University of Leicester have recorded stunning images of the UK’s winter landscape by orbiting satellites.
European Space Agency satellite instruments have been observing the icy blast in the UK from their vantage points in space.
Leicester scientists have used two instruments, MERIS and AATSR, which have returned stunning images of a snow-bound UK from observations on November 29th and December 1st.
In the MERIS images, the colour scale runs from white snow and clouds to green vegetation. In the AATSR images, the non-snow areas are coloured red to highlight differences to the white snow. The change in snow cover within two days is clearly visible.
The AATSR instrument has been funded in the UK by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, and is a centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Science Museum, entitled ‘Atmosphere … exploring climate science’. The exhibition was formally opened by HRH Prince Charles today, December 3rd, and will be open to the public from tomorrow (December 4th).
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 IMAGE: This is an image of snow-bound UK from space by AATSR on Dec. 1.
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Professor John Remedios, Head of Earth Observation Science at the University of Leicester, said “These images demonstrate how much our local climate depends on a combination of the climate mean temperature in a given month and the meteorological variability which can produce very cold and very warm months. For the UK, it is another cold winter. At one time a few years ago our children complained that there was never any snow. Now there is plenty!”
He added “Each year we need to make careful observations in order to increase the accuracy of the weather prediction. The AATSR instrument is both very good at measurements for climate and for weather forecasting”
The AATSR instrument is flown on the European Space Agency (ESA) satellite, Envisat, launched in 2002, alongside ESA’s MERIS instrument. The AATSR measures fundamental climate variables such as sea and land surface temperature, aerosols and clouds whilst the MERIS instrument is able to observe vegetation greenness and ocean colour, and their change over the seasons. The Envisat recently underwent a controlled orbit change to extend its lifetime to 2013. The images show that the instruments are working very well.
For more information contact Professor John Remedios on j.j.remedios@le.ac.uk
Images available from pressoffice@le.ac.uk
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 IMAGE: This is an image of snow-bound UK from space by MERIS on Dec. 1.
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Image credits:
AATSR 29 November 2010. Credit: AATSR data @ ESA, and University of Leicester
AATSR 01 December 2010. Credit: AATSR data @ ESA, and University of Leicester
MERIS 29 November 2010. Credit: MERIS data @ ESA, and University of Leicester
MERIS 01 December 2010. Credit: MERIS data @ ESA, and University of Leicester
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Girma,
but the article does make a good point about open-air skating. If this warming trend keeps up people will have to skate in indoor rinks during the winter because it is too cold to skate outdoors.
Max-
I have building operations on my resume.
You have to heat indoor rinks all the time.
Or “city” people start complaining.
I [d]
….and a hum came suddenly into his head, which seemed a Good Hum, such is Hummed Hopefully to Others:
“The more it snows
(Tiddely pom,)
The more it goes
(Tiddely pom,)
The more it goes
(Tiddely pom,)
On snowing.
And nobody knows,
(Tiddely pom,)
How cold my toes,
(Tiddely pom,)
How cold my toes,
(Tiddely pom,)
Are growing.
‘The House At Pooh Corner.’ A.A. Milne
“Dave Sergeant says:
December 5, 2010 at 12:15 am”
To claim, with 90% certainty, that the climate is changing and it is due to emssions of C02 as a result of human activity, is also not true.
@ur momisugly Rossa
“This article in the Telegraph is illustrated by the steam train on the North Yorkshire Railway that has no problems with running in the snowy conditions. They didn’t even have to clear the snow from the line. Built in 1934 and running on fossil fuels….oh dear!”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8181494/Fault-in-train-software-leaves-them-unable-to-operate-in-snow-and-ice.html
By coincidence almost exactly the same thing happened last winter in another part of England. It was discussed in this forum at the time.
Steam train rescues stranded passengers in Britain where electric trains failed
Posted on December 25, 2009 by Anthony Watts
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/25/steam-train-rescues-stranded-passengers-in-britain-where-electric-trains-failed/
“Passengers were rescued by a steam locomotive after modern rail services were brought to a halt by the snowy conditions in south-east England.”
Of course steam trains have an advantage over modern electric trains – they were not designed with global warming in mind!
Everyone’s missing the point – there are TWO kinds of snow – the traditional sort, which we’re seeing much less of (Dr David Viner was right), and AGW snow which much of the northern hemisphere is getting now. There are also two kinds of temperature – the kind that thermometers measure worldwide (except where it’s warming the most, where there aren’t any) and the corrected sort that appear in global datasets like GISS and USHCN. Without the valuable work the scientists in these organisations have done over the years, it might appear to the untrained mind (and sceptical journalists – is there any other kind?) that the earth is not warming at all, perhaps even cooling. We owe them a vote of thanks – they’ve delivered the final triumph of rational science over measurement.
Mostly Harmless-
I s your handle a joke?
I suspect you missed the [sarc] tag
Either that or you sir, are a fool.
[d]
North of Scotland, freezing and deep in snow for the past week. Clearly caused by Arctic winds from Siberia, yet we Scots insist on calling the weather “f—- baltic”.
Can the Climate Rapid Response Team help…?
http://www.climaterapidresponse.org/
Mostly Harmless-
I s your handle a joke?
I suspect you missed the [sarc] tag
He did miss it and I had a chuckle anyway.
Nice! These are the days we are living for 😉
And furthermore for the benefit of the non home owning city apartment-dwellers,
I’m a tradesman, forced to wear my work gear inside my home.
I want those university types to step into my world and choose between food and heat.
See how long the agenda lasts THEN!.
[d]
OK Guys, what have you done with our summer ???
Not had a day over 26C yet, here in tropical Queensland. (should be 30+ by now)
(except at the airport where the Stevenson Screen is right next to the jet taxi way.)
The whole east coast looks as though it will go under water shortly, from floods, not sea rise.
Desal plants put into moth balls, dams 100% + full. (another bloody failure)
So where is our summer, and where is the ongoing drought, rain was predicted to be a “rare and wonderful thing” that our kids will never see !!! (because of “Climate “disruption” (mann made))
Another weekend gone by with my boat sitting in the marina waiting for the wind and rain to stop !!!
.
Dave Sergeant : December 5, 2010 at 12:15 am
Not much snow in Bracknell perhaps but 21 inches measured in Sevenoaks, Kent on 2nd December (on the roof of a car so no drifting) and it was still snowing as it had been for two days.
Rossa says:
December 5, 2010 at 12:43 am
“On a lighter note a software fault is being blamed this year for the electric trains not being able to run. I suppose that is better than telling us it is the “wrong kind of snow” as they did in previous years.”
It doesn’t look like a software fault to me. It sounds like the software was designed to shut down the motors when it detects irregular voltage spikes in the voltage from the third rail, probably as a safety measure to prevent damage to the motors or the contacts or whatever. Which it probably did just as desired – train comes to a safe halt, no passenger or train hardware damaged. Sounds like a designed behaviour to me.
So, the fault is in the system requirements when they end up with thousands of people stranded, not in the software or hardware implementation.
Was on Rai TV (Italy) main news just now: Record freeze gripping Europe, 60 dead.
So it is a north-hemi record freeze in a year that’s supposed to be a record hot when there were no record hots anywhere north or south, except the Russian one-off.
“….and children would not know what snow is by 2010”
and what’s happening in Cancun? News blackout?
“Professor John Remedios, Head of Earth Observation Science at the University of Leicester, said “These images demonstrate how much our local climate depends on a combination of the climate mean temperature in a given month and the meteorological variability which can produce very cold and very warm months.”
Wow, the images “demonstrate” all that CAGW doublespeak and twisted logic. Amazing.
“Each year we need to make careful observations in order to increase the accuracy of the weather prediction”.
That should have read: We have to stop issuing bias weather predictions that support the AGW scam.
MostlyHarmless says:
December 5, 2010 at 2:57 am
Everyone’s missing the point – there are TWO kinds of snow – the traditional sort, which we’re seeing much less of (Dr David Viner was right), and AGW snow
You missed the third type of snow, that needs much more study.
hope I don’t forget the sarc tag :0) don’t want confusion to reign.
“Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” (Dr David Viner)
That’s odd, for the last five years, all our local schools down here in the South of England have had snow day closures. But hey, don’t let observable facts get in the way of modeled predictions!
So they built two lots of sensors into the AATSR? One lot to measure climate and the other to measure weather? Nice to see the Weather sensors are working as planned and have detected recent cold European winters accurately. Must be a relief for the AGW crowd that they didn’t even register on the Climate sensors: some good lack of data there to feed into future GCM’s. Oh well, despite the depressing, obligatory prostrating to AGW orthodoxy and pathological doublethink, some great pictures and good work by Leicester Uni.
I remember that steam trains rarely had difficulty keeping passengers warm, but what about electric trains stranded on the line? What heating is available then to keep passengers from freezing to death?
The local council spent my tax on a Climate Change Advisory team, failed to make any contracts with farmers to clear minor roads, sold off the snow plows years ago and doesn’t have the money to clear residential roads or fill grit bins. The Climate Change Advisory team were not out with shovels removing the weather from the pavements but it would have been a valuable experience for them and the first useful thing they have done.
Do satellites emit greenhouse gases when they use their thrusters to change orbit? If so, can I get one to fly over Wallow County (and Union County while it’s up there for Douglas) so we can add some greenhouse gas to our atmosphere? Thanks so much.
…must get more wood, must get more wood…
Oops. Speeding ticket. “Wallowa”, not “Wallow”.
I remember being told that “Heat” would be most obvious in the higher latitudes.
That the lower latitudes would change very little, if anything cooler.
This obviously led to the “children will not know what snow is” prediction.
Since they got this so wrong, what is the spin/hindcast to justify it now?