📢 GINA is hiring an Associate Satellite Products Analyst & Trainer!
If you have a background in...
🛰️ Meteorology or Atmospheric Science
🛰️ Proficient with Linux/macOS and in scripting languages
Apply here: careers.alaska.edu/jobs/associa...
Ever wonder how satellite images are paired with ground observations to help forecasters make decisions about flight conditions and keep pilots informed? Check out this blog from GINA to learn about the satellite products used to distinguish low clouds & fog!
gina.alaska.edu/identifying-...
NOAA 20 VIIRS truecolor satellite image centered over the Bering Strait region taken at 418pm AKDT March 18, 2026. Various features in the image are annotated, including open water, pack ice, clouds and snow covered land.
Clear skies Saturday afternoon allow for a nice view of sea ice across the northern Bering/southern Chukchi Seas in NOAA-20 VIIRS image courtesy @alaskagina.bsky.social. Shorefast ice along much of the mainland Alaska coast. Areas of open water in Norton Sound east of Nome. #akwx #SeaIce #Arctic
Do you want to learn about detecting and forecasting weather at high latitudes? Join us April 22 @11am AKST for this month’s VAWS webinar exploring training courses offered through COMET’s MetEd website from COMET scientists Amy Stevermer and Patrick Dills.
Learn more → uaf-accap.org/event/vaws-c...
Reaching its maximum on March 15, sea ice extent in the Bering Sea was the highest it had been since April 2013! This #VIIRS True Color RGB from March 22 gives us a rare, cloudless view of the Bering Sea, showing just how far south Bering Sea ice reached this winter.
Join the March AACAP webinar tomorrow, 3/26 @ 11am AKDT exploring how Alaskans get emergency alerts. Panelists from local, state, and federal agencies will discuss how alerts are issued, how to access them, and what’s being done to keep Alaskans informed. Learn more --> uaf-accap.org/event/emerge...
NOAA-21 Truecolor image centered on the eastern Bering Sea taken March 21, 2026 at 352pm AKDT. The sea ice edge is well defined and is clearly visible running from west of Cold Bay to southwest of St. Paul to well west of St. Matthew Island. Clouds obscure the ice edge near the Russian coast.
True color satellite image Saturday afternoon courtesy @alaskagina.bsky.social. Clear skies over most of the ice covered eastern Bering Sea. Might want to save this pix for future reference: sea ice in the eastern Bering this extensive only a couple of springs since 1970. #akwx #Arctic #SeaIce
Fig. 4 NOAA-21 truecolor satellite image taken March 21, 2026 at 352pm AKDT). Image courtesy UAF/Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA).
🧪🌊🦑 #AlaskaSky
@alaskagina.bsky.social sea ice image from taken on March 21, 2026. @alaskawx.bsky.social
In winter, blowing snow can pose a threat to both air and ground transportation. GINA's blowing snow project in collaboration with @noaa.gov NESDIS, uses citizen science data to validate and improve the satellite products used to detect and track blowing snow! Learn more here: www.bit.ly/40k9aMz
Curious about Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and their impact on Alaska’s oceans? Tune in this Wed, March 4 @ 11 AKST to hear Dr. Thomas Farrugia discuss all things HABs! From how HABs form in Alaskan waters to how they are currently being researched.
Register here → uaf-accap.org/event/vaws-u...
Yellow and orange represent the highest snowfall rate. Pink colors at the bottom of the image, over the Aleutian Chain, are MiRS rain rates.
It’s time to break out the shovels! 🌨️ Fairbanks got 8-11” of snow last weekend and hasn't stopped there! AK-SFR helps track snowfall rates across the state. This image from Feb. 17th highlights a low pressure system in the Bering Strait on its way to bring precipitation to the western interior.
Join us Feb. 18 @ 11am AKST for a webinar with UAS Professor of Environmental Science, Eran Hood, as he discusses monitoring and communicating glacier outburst flood hazards from Mendenhall Glacier. Click here to learn more → uaf-accap.org/event/vaws-m...
VIIRS DayNight Band and CIRA SnowCloud Discriminator image of the Seward Peninsula, Bering Sea and Bering Sea Ice. This image uses the DayNight band image to colorize clouds so we can tell different types of clouds apart. High clouds are shown in magenta, middle clouds in orange and lower clouds in yellow.
VIIRS DayNightBand view of the northern Alaskan gulf coast, highlighting Anchorage city lights.
A VIIRS DayNight Band image of the entire state of Alaska highlighting auroral activity. Aurora is shown in bright white to light cyan.
Did you know satellites can see in the dark? #VIIRS DayNight Band (DNB) keeps satellite observations going all night! These images showcase the diverse applications of DNB imagery. From navigating sea ice, to tracking northern lights. Explore DNB imagery & GINA's products here --> gina.alaska.edu
The steep sun angle this time of year causes the mountains of the Alaska range to cast long shadows, longest of which from Denali. These two images are similar views of the mountain from above: VIIRS DayLandCloud to discriminate ice/snow from clouds and VIIRS GeoColor, used for aerosol detection.
AMSR2 Microwave Sea Ice Concentration gives an estimate of the percentage of ice in each pixel. White represents 100% ice coverage.
VIIRS SnowCloud Discriminator is used to distinguish snow and ice from clouds, unlike an RGB this product can be used at night. Sea ice is pictured in a darker pink while snow is captured in a lighter pink and clouds are pictured as yellow.
VIIRS DayLandCloud RGB is used to distinguish snow and ice from clouds. Sea ice is in darker blue while snow on land is captured in a brighter cyan.
This season has brought rapid southerly sea ice growth the Bering Sea! These tools help us track sea ice, the SnowCloud Discriminator and the DayLandCloud RGB help distinguish ice/snow from clouds while the AMSR 2 Microwave Sea Ice Concentration Product estimates the percentage of sea ice in a pixel
Join us Jan. 21 @ 11am AKST to hear from UAF Professor and Chief Scientist of the Alaska Satellite Facility, Dr.Franz Meyer as he highlights Alaska’s important role in providing satellite data with more accuracy with NASA/ISRO’s NISAR mission.
Register here --> uaf-accap.org/event/vaws-i...
It’s been a cold few weeks in Alaska! 🧊 Watch how GINA’s VIIRS Sea Ice Surface Temperature product tracks cold air as it pushes southward on Jan. 6th. This animation highlights the transition to -25F, with warmer temperatures in blue and colder temperatures shown in magenta.
VIIRS DayLandCloud RGB showing ice fog extent in the Fairbanks Area. More concentrated patches of ice fog are shown in brighter white and are circled, a thinner layer of fog is depicted in less bright white across the image.
Photo of ice fog covering Fairbanks taken from Akasofu Building on the University of Alaska Fairbanks West Ridge.
Interior Alaska’s cold snap has created persistent ice fog, which GINA has monitored from the ground and space 🛰️ Check out this photo taken by a GINA employee from the UAF campus on Dec. 29 vs. a #VIIRS DayLandCloud RGB captured via the NOAA 20 satellite a few days later.
A photograph of the University of Alaska Fairbanks sign, displaying a temperature of negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit. A bicycle is leaning against the sign.
Interior Alaska has been in a deep freeze for several weeks, and one of GINA’s amazing employees took this picture on his way into work. Cycling at negative 40… brrr!! Be sure to check out @alaskawx.bsky.social for more information on the extent of the cold snap. #akwx
GINA is helping lead a new pilot project to validate the blowing #snow satellite data product! Use the GLOBE Observer app’s Clouds tool to observe blowing snow, which is snow lofted from the ground high into the air. Learn how to make observations at → observer.globe.gov/do-globe-obs...
Title slide for an American Geophysical Union annual meeting presentation in 2025. The title reads "From Sky to Sea: GLOBE and 4-H in the Sub-Arctic." The photo is from Angoon, Alaska and youth are collecting a seawater sample with a bucket to measure ocean pH.
Christi, @alaskagina.bsky.social science educator, gave a presentation on the Global Learning and Observations Benefit the Environment #GLOBE program today. 🧪🌊🦑🌐🍎🍀 #AGU25
From Sky to Sea: GLOBE and 4-H in the Subarctic
www.globe.gov/news-events/...
Satellite image of the Arctic Ocean north of the northern Alaska coast. The image shows sea ice concentration, with 100% concentration as white and lower ice coverage as reds and greens. In the image you can see leads and fractures in the ice, shown as lines cutting through white ice.
Satellite image of the Arctic Ocean north of the northern Alaska coast. The image shows sea ice surface temperature, with the coldest temperatures as purple/magenta and warmer temperatures as blue-green and can. In the image, the coldest sea ice is located north of Siberia closer to the North Pole.
There were clear skies over the Arctic Ocean yesterday, giving us a view of the #icepack north of Alaska. These #VIIRS images show the complex structure of fractures and leads (left) and the ice surface temperature, which is coldest (purple/magenta) close to the North Pole (right). #akwx #seaice
Tune in Dec. 4, 11-12 AKST to learn about the complexities of forecasting mountain weather in Alaska. Join Carson Jones and Mik Dalphes as they detail the tools and networks used by meteorologists and avalanche forecasters to assess and communicate risk.
More here → uaf-accap.org/event/vaws-w...
Alaskan’s were treated to an auroral show the night of Nov 11 thanks to a geomagnetic storm! This VIIRS DayNightBand image captures aurora over the state. Meanwhile, our friends at CIMSS captured the aurora over the continental US! More information from CIMSS - cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-bl...
Did you miss this month’s VAWS webinar? Not to worry! The Nov. 13 webinar with Rick Thoman and Ed Plumb, covering the weather and climate aspects of ex-Typhoon Halong, which hit western Alaska last month, is available as a recording.
Find the recording here → uaf-accap.org/.../ex-typho...
#akwx
Satellite image showing rain rates from Nov. 9 in southeast Alaska. Red numbers indicate METAR based surface rain gauge measurements, while the colorful swaths show QPE rain rate, data for this estimate comes from CMORPH2 rain rates and Snowfall rates produced by the NOAA Climate Prediction and NOAA STAR. . Yellow, red and orange indicate higher rain rates.
While Fairbanks temps were dropping last Sunday, southeast Alaska was experiencing a heavy rain event. This image shows QPE, Quantitative Precipitation Estimate, which uses satellite microwave data to approximate the amount of liquid precipitation received over 6hrs.
#akxw #weather #NOAA
Tune in Nov. 13 @ 11am AKST to hear Rick Thoman and Ed Plumb discuss the weather and climate aspects of ex-Typhoon Halong which hit western Alaska on Oct. 11-12. Learn about the storm's evolution and what made this storm unique.
Register here: uaf-accap.org/event/ex-typ...
We had a lot of fun preparing for a future Infiniscope Tour of our lab as part of our 4-H pH ocean education project. 🧪🌊🦑🍀 @alaskagina.bsky.social
Check out other tours for immersive virtual field trips for learners of all ages. #NASA #ArizonaStateUniversity
infiniscope.org/page/tour-it
On Oct. 12, Ex-typhoon Halong hit AKs western coast, causing severe flooding in the Kuskokwim River Delta. VIIRS instruments captured the storm's trajectory in this animation using the longwave-IR band.
Donate to the Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund here: alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
Satellites are always on the job, even while we’re sleeping! These #VIIRS products team up at night to give us a detailed look at fog in southeast Alaska. The DayNightBand is sensitive to visible light, like the moon, while the Nighttime Microphysics RGB can separate low clouds and fog.
