Snow blow: image of Mount Everest from orbit captures enormous plume.Scientists are viewing a photograph of an immense plume of snow wafting from Mount Everest to learn how winds redistribute re·dis·trib·ute tr.v. re·dis·trib·ut·ed, re·dis·trib·ut·ing, re·dis·trib·utes To distribute again in a different way; reallocate. precipitation in the Himalayas and other mountain chains. On Jan. 28, as astronauts on the International Space Station passed over Tibet, they snapped a picture of Mount Everest. The image shows a long white plume extending eastward from the peak. Knowing the distance from Mount Everest to another mountain also visible in the image, physicist Kent Moore of the University of Toronto Research at the University of Toronto has been responsible for the world's first electronic heart pacemaker, artificial larynx, single-lung transplant, nerve transplant, artificial pancreas, chemical laser, G-suit, the first practical electron microscope, the first cloning of T-cells, estimates that the plume is between 15 and 20 kilometers long. Moore dismisses the possibility that the plume was a so-called banner cloud, a type that sometimes develops on the lee side of tall peaks. Banner clouds typically form in summer months, and also weather conditions on the day the picture was taken probably wouldn't have produced a banner cloud at Mount Everest's altitude of more than 8,800 meters, he says. It's much more likely that the plume was snow lofted from the mountain, Moore notes in the Nov. 28 Geophysical Research Letters Geophysical Research Letters is a publication of the American Geophysical Union. GRL is the organization's only letters journal. Since its introduction in 1974, GRL has published only short research letters, typically 3-5 pages long, which focus on a specific discipline or . Satellite data indicate that between 40 and 80 centimeters of snow fell on and around Mount Everest between Jan. 22 and Jan. 25. Also, weather models suggest that winds atop the peak exceeded 50 meters per second. Winds only one-third that velocity can loft fresh snow from the ground, says Moore. Researchers may use computer simulations of the Mount Everest plume to refine their models of blowing snow Blowing snow[1] is snow lifted from the surface by the wind, at a height of 8 feet (2 meters) or more, that will reduce visibility. Blowing snow can come from falling snow or snow that already accumulated on the ground but is picked up and blown about by strong winds. . They are working to predict how strong winds redistribute fallen snow in mountainous regions--a phenomenon that affects many scientific endeavors, ranging from estimating avalanche danger to interpreting ice cores drilled from high-altitude snowfields, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Ana Barros, a hydrologist hy·drol·o·gy n. The scientific study of the properties, distribution, and effects of water on the earth's surface, in the soil and underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere. at Duke University in Durham, N.C. |
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