Snow

04/11/2017, Hudson Bay, Canada With year-round temperatures (-5°C) lower than similar subarctic areas and a higher freezing point (lower salinity) of the water compared to the rest of the oceans, the Canadian Hudson Bay remains frozen for several months each year, typically from mid-December through mid-June. A steady increase in regional temperatures lengthened this ice-free period over the last 100 years. In the southeast of the bay, for instance, the ice-free season was extended by 7 days in the years between 1971 and 2007 alone. According to the IPCC’s 2014 report, the impact of climate change in the loss, thinning and faster break-up of the ice sheets over land and sea, is likely to threaten the habitats of ringed seal and polar bear populations. For instance in the lowlands of Wapusk National Park, along the coast of the snow-covered Manitoba province, that is shown in this 100 m PROBA-V image from early November 2017. In the image, the cyan is clearly showing the formation of sea ice.	01/01/2017, North Atlantic Sea This 100 m image shows the center part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, with a combined area of 405,212 square kilometers. The north-south extent of the province (46°36′N to 60°22′N), prevalent westerly winds, cold ocean currents and local factors such as mountains and coastline combine to create the various climates of the province. Northern Labrador is classified as a polar tundra climate, southern Labrador has a subarctic climate, while most of Newfoundland has a humid continental climate	06/03/2017, Winnipeg, USA The 100 m false-colour image of 6 March 2017 shows us the city Winnipeg, surrounded with snow. The city is named after the Lake Winnipeg (upper part of the image), the name comes from the Western Cree words for muddy water. Winnipeg's location in the Canadian Prairies gives it a humid continental climate. Summers have an average of 19.7 °C, winters are the coldest and driest time of the year, with an average around −16.4 °C. Temperatures occasionally drop below −40.0 °C	06/10/2017, Akimiski Island, Canada The 100 m false-colour image of 6 January 2017 shows us Akimiski Island, the largest island in St. James Bay, Canada, covered with snow and ice. It has an area of 3,001 km².The island has no year-round human inhabitants; however, it is part of the Attawapiskat First Nation's traditional territory and is frequently used for traditional purposes. The coastal waters and wetlands of Akimiski Island (and St. James Bay in general) are important feeding grounds for many varieties of migratory birds.
01/02/2017, Caspian Sea The 100 m image of 1 February 2017shows us part of a frozen Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth. It is in an endorheic basin located between Europe and Asia. The northern portion of the Caspian Sea typically freezes in the winter, and in the coldest winters ice forms in the south as well.	11/12/2016, South Dakota, USA The 100 m false-colour image of 11 December 2016 shows us South Dakota, a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States, fully covered in snow. The state is bisected by the Missouri River, dividing South Dakota into two geographically and socially distinct halves. Rising in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, the Missouri flows east and south for 3,767 km before entering the Mississippi River. The river takes drainage from a sparsely populated, semi-arid watershed of more than 1,300,000 km², which includes parts of ten U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.	06/12/2016, Ural river, Russia The 100 m false-colour image of 6 December 2016 shows us part of the Ural River, covered with a snow blanket. The river is flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in Eurasia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. With 2,428 kilometres, it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube. The river is mostly fed by melting snow (60–70%); the contribution of precipitation is relatively minor.	16/11/2016, Oblast Novosibirsk, Russia The 100 m false-colour image of 16 November 2016 shows us the snowy landscape of Oblast Novosibirsk located in southwestern Siberia, Russia. The white spots and stripes in this image are frozen lakes. In the middle: Lake Chany, a basin of inland drainage and one of the largest lakes in Russia. It is a shallow, freshwater lake that has a fluctuating water level, which can change from season to season and year to year. A variety of ecosystems that surround the lake include a mixture of wetlands, salt marshes, and a mixture of birch and aspen forests.
16/11/2016, Jamalia, Russia The 100 m false-colour image of 16 November 2016 shows us part of the Pur River covered with a snow blanket in Okrug, Russia. The Pur River proper starts at the confluence of the Pyakupur and Aivasedapur Rivers. The Pur River is 389 kilometres long. The river freezes up in November and stays icebound until May.	2014-2016, Jorge Montt Glacier, Chile The Jorge Montt Glacier is a tidewater glacier in southern Chili (total drainage area about 500 km²) and is part of the 13,000 km² Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The glacier is unfortunately subject to a fast retreat resulting from climate change. Scientific research has focused on documenting the retreat rate using ancient geographical reports, ground-based digital cameras, and satellite imagery. It was estimated from these data that the glacier has retreated by 20 km over the period 1898 – 2011, with the retreat rate rapidly increasing over the last decades (Rivera et al., 2012). The glacier’s retreat is also well visible from the 100 m S1 images taken between 17 March 2014 and 9 January 2016, which shows the glacier frontal part receding by about 1.5 km, a continuation of the high retreat rate. Further, the image centres show Lago Jorge Montt and some snow-covered mountains of the Tortel region to the right. Reference: Rivera, A., M. Koppes, C. Bravo, and J.C. Aravena, 2012: Little Ice Age advance and retreat of Glaciar Jorge Montt, Chilean Patagonia, Clim. Past., 8, 403 – 414, doi:10.5194/cp-8-403-2012.	11/12/2016, Wisconsin, USA This image shows a snowy 100 m image near La Crosse and the Mississippi River, Wisconsin, USA.	23/02/2016, Yukon Delta, Alaska The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is located in the western part of Alaska (USA) and is one of the world’s largest deltas, with a size of approximately 130,000 km². The delta mainly comprises tundra, wetlands, and mountainous areas. The false-colour image shows a frozen and snow-covered delta. The Yukon Wildlife Refuge, an area established for the conservation of among others various sea birds, Canada geese, salmon, and muskox, is located south of the delta.
02/01/2015, James Bay, Canada The 100 m false-colour image of 2 October 2015 shows us James Bay, covered with ice. James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost part. James Bay represents the southern extent of the Arctic Archipelago Marine ecozone. While the coastal areas are primarily in the Hudson Plains, the northeastern coast bordering Quebec is in the Taiga Shield ecozone. This rocky and hilly eastern shore forms the western edge of the Canadian Shield in Quebec and as such the main habitat is boreal forest of the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga ecoregion. The western shore however is characterised by broad tundra lowlands that are an extension of the Hudson Bay Lowlands and the vegetation is mostly muskeg bog. A large portion of this area is part of the Polar Bear Provincial Park. Hundreds of rivers flow into James Bay.	03/07/2015, Amundsen Gulf, Canada The 100 m false-colour image of 3 July 2015 shows us huge ice shelfs in the Amundsen Gulf, Canada. The entire gulf is in the Arctic tundra climate region, characterized by extremely cold winters. In late winter the Amundsen Gulf is covered in sea ice. Most of the ice breaks up in July during a normal year, with some areas in the far eastern and northern part of the gulf only breaking up in August. Beluga whales, seals, Arctic char, cod, and even salmon use the waters of the gulf, salmon showing up for the first time off of Sachs Harbour between 1999 and 2001.	28/11/2015, Lake Winnipegosis, Canada The 100 m false-colour image of 28 November 2015 shows us ice in Lake Winnipegosis, or simply 'Lake Winipigis' in the province Manitoba in the centre of Canada. The lake's name derives from that of Lake Winnipeg, with a diminutive suffix. Winnipeg means 'big muddy waters' and Winnipegosis means 'little muddy waters'. Southern Manitoba, falls into the humid continental climate zone. This area is cold and windy in the winter and has frequent blizzards because of the open landscape. Summers are warm with a moderate length. This region is the most humid area in the prairie provinces, with moderate precipitation.	28/11/2015, Saskatchewan, Canada The 100 m false-colour image of 28 November 2015 shows us part of the province Saskatchewan, west-central Canada, covered with snow. Saskatchewan has a total area of 651,900 square kilometres, of which only 592,534 square kilometres is land. The remaining 59,366 square kilometres is fresh water, composed mostly of rivers, reservoirs, and the province's 100,000 lakes. Winters are usually bitterly cold, with frequent Arctic air descending from the north.[19] with high temperatures not breaking −17 °C for weeks at a time. Warm chinook winds often blow from the west, bringing periods of mild weather. Annual precipitation averages 30 to 45 centimetres across the province, with the bulk of rain falling in June, July, and August. Saskatchewan is one of the most tornado-active parts in Canada, averaging roughly 12 to 18 tornadoes per year, some violent.
28/11/2015, Saskatchewan, Canada The 100 m image of 28 November 2015 shows part of eastern Saskatchewan largely covered by snow, with the Saskatchewan River flowing into Tobin Lake in the upper-left part. Further, various small rivers, lakes and ponds can be seen.	27/11/2015, Snow, British Columbia British Columbia is a province in the southwest of Canada with an estimated population of 4.6 million. It has a wide variety of landscapes with valleys, mountains, and fjords and thousands of small islands. The coastline stretches over 27,000 km. The image of 27 November 2015 shows the Rocky Mountains covered with snow. Further, the grey-white areas in the image centre indicate fog and low clouds in the valleys.	01/01/2015, France, Pyrenees The image shows the southern part of France with the snow-capped Pyrenees. In the upper part of the image a persistent cloud field in the Garonne Valley is visible.	06/11/2014, Snow on mountains, Norway Norway is the westernmost Scandinavian country and is bordered by Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Norwegian geography is dominated by vast mountain ranges, which are broken up by valleys and fjords. The highest mountains peak at nearly 2500 m and are mostly located in the Jotunheimen and Dovrefjell ranges. This image shows an already substantial amount of snow on the mountains in early November.
06/10/2014, Snow Wood Tikchik State Park, Alaska Wood Tikchik, located in the southwest of Alaska, is a state park with an area of about 6500 km² and is mainly known for its lakes (shown in the lower right part of the image) and water-based ecosystems. All five species of the Pacific salmon spawn in the park’s lakes and rivers. Further, moose, caribou, and brown bears can be seen. Snowfall accumulations in the park vary from about 1.50 m in the south to more than 4 m in the northern part. This PROBA-V 300 m image, taken at 6 October 2014, shows the first snow that has fallen in the northern part of the park.