May 1, 2015 - Snow in the Carpathian Mountains

Snow in the Carpathian Mountains

The high elevations of the Carpathian Mountains were covered with snow in mid-spring, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on April 23.

The arc that makes up the Carpathian Mountains stretches across parts of eight countries. From north to south, the countries are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia. This image centers on the mountains within Romania, which form a semi-circle around Transylvania, one of Romania’s nine historical provinces.

Snowfall is frequent and heavy in the mountains during winter, with some lakes remaining frozen into early summer. The spring snowmelt plays an important role in the hydrological cycle of the region, which relies on the melting snow to fill reservoirs and allow proper growing conditions to agricultural land.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 4/23/2015
Resolutions: 1km (164.9 KB), 500m (606.9 KB), 250m (1.4 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC