With an albedo of up to 80 percent or more, snow-covered terrain reflects most of the earth's incoming solar radiation back into space, cooling the lower atmosphere. When snow cover melts, the albedo drops suddenly to less than about 30 percent, allowing the ground to absorb more solar radiation, heating the earth's surface and lower atmosphere. This short animation demonstrates the effect of melting ice on albedo.
This description of a site outside SERC has not been vetted by SERC staff and may be incomplete or incorrect. If you
have information we can use to flesh out or correct this record let us know.
