Abstract:

Snow falls everywhere on the globe. In some places it just happens to melt before it reaches the ground. But, even in the tropics about 70 - 80 percent of total precipitation involve the ice phase. Remote sensing observations provide the only means to globally observe ice- and mixed-phase precipitation (a.k.a. snow) and significant progress has been made in this particular field of remote sensing over the last decade.

In this presentation the value of remote sensing observation in advancing our understanding of ice- and mixed-phase precipitation and its role in the climate system will be addressed. From the top of the Greenland ice sheet to the Intertropical Convergence Zone, examples both at a process level as well as the climate system level will be given based on research performed in my group over the last several years.