Greenland snow grain and albedo

A sequence of snow grain size and albedo from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites’ Ocean Land and Colour Instruments. The animation illustrates a view through clear skies to the surface of the Greenland ice sheet where warming causes snow grain growth and reduced albedo. The darkest albedo areas are where snow melt gives way to bare glacier ice that melts even faster than snow cover, highlighting the fact that snow and ice are sensitive responders to weather and climate.

Read full story: Snow grain size – it matters