December 13, 2014 - Snow in Korea

Snow in Korea

Snow began softly falling on the Korean Peninsula on December 1, 2014. By December 5, when NASA’s Terra satellite flew overhead, snow blanketed parts of eastern China, North Korea and South Korea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard that satellite captured this true-color image at 02:20 UTC (11:20 a.m. Korea Standard Time) that same day.

Black lines have been overlain on the image to delineate political boundaries. South Korea sits on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea to its north. China lies north and west of North Korea. A bank of clouds hovers over the Japan Sea east of the Korean Peninsula, and a smaller bank of clouds has formed over the Yellow Sea. Tans and greens off the western coast of the peninsula mark sediment flow from the peninsula into the Yellow Sea. Some phytoplankton may also contribute to the greenish color of the water, particularly further from shore.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 12/52014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,43
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC