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View of snow cover

08 Feb 2023 05:30 AM
Whenever there are clear skies overhead, it is always a good time to check out what the various satellites show! The featured map presents the combination of Aqua MODIS True Color and morning NWS COOP snow depth reports for yesterday. It should not take much explaining to explain what is going on within the map! Considerable snow cover remains over portions of northern Iowa and more snow is forecast for Wednesday evening into Thursday with the heaviest totals over northeastern Iowa. While the warm temperatures on Monday for some in the state was a welcome taste of spring, we still have plenty of winter to go yet!

Voting:
Good: 14
Bad: 1

Tags:   modis  

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So Much Brown

11 Jan 2019 05:34 AM
Days with mostly clear skies, like on Thursday, make for a good opportunity to check in on the MODIS "true color" imagery. The featured map is from the Terra satellite. Some of the white shown in the imagery is clouds, but Iowa is indicated to be mostly snow free. Perhaps some limited areas over northwestern Iowa near the Minnesota border have some snow left, but the highest NWS COOP reports in the area are just a trace of snow. There is some snow on the way for the weekend for southern portions of the state.

Voting:
Good: 18
Bad: 2

Tags:   modis  

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Head South to Find Brown

13 Feb 2018 05:33 AM
The clear skies overhead on Sunday allowed for the various satellites to get a good look at our snow covered landscape covering the state. The featured map is from the Aqua MODIS satellite showing a "true color" depicting. Note that there are some clouds over the far southeastern portion of this map, but a clear view of the snow exists over Iowa. It is interesting to see that the snow cover does not persist much farther south into Missouri. They have mostly missed out on the recent snow falls.

Voting:
Good: 9
Bad: 0

Tags:   satellite   modis  

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Drab Thanksgiving

23 Nov 2017 05:22 AM
Skies on Tuesday were mostly clear over Iowa, so it is a good time to check in on how we look from space. The featured map is of Aqua MODIS true color imagery and the colors over the state are rather drab. The map is rather interesting though as it shows the various land forms over the state, with forested river valleys and the dominant / intensive agricultural land use over northcentral Iowa. The darker brown areas are mostly fields that have had fall tillage done.

Voting:
Good: 3
Bad: 0

Tags:   modis  

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Lush Green to Brown

25 Oct 2016 05:33 AM
It does not take a fancy satellite to tell us that our landscape is mostly brown these days, but we might as well take a look since we have the fancy Terra and Aqua MODIS satellites. The featured image compares true color imagery from Sunday with an image two months earlier in late August. It is remarkable to note the change in color over this period. The wet and humid summer created very lush conditions over Iowa and the August image indicates that dark green color.

Voting:
Good: 13
Bad: 0

Tags:   modis  

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Greener than 2012

17 Sep 2014 05:46 AM
Clear skies on Tuesday provided the Aqua MODIS satellite an unobstructed view of Iowa's landscape. The featured chart compares the MODIS true color product for yesterday with a close date from 2012. The weather for 2012 was nothing like what has happened this year with 2012 being hot and dry while this year has been cool and wet. The agricultural crops still need more heat units to reach maturity this year and so that explains the obvious difference in greenness.

Voting:
Good: 21
Bad: 7
Abstain: 5

Tags:   modis   satellite  

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Difference a week makes

14 Mar 2014 05:39 AM
It was only a week ago that we were climbing out of the deep freeze after highs on the second near zero! The weather this week has been much warmer with very seasonable highs on Thursday. The featured image compares the Aqua MODIS true color image from the past two Thursdays. The snow cover is now confined to northeastern Iowa after covering much of the state just a week ago. Unfortunately, there are chances of snow in the forecast and so we are not done with winter just yet!

Voting:
Good: 43
Bad: 15
Abstain: 9

Tags:   modis