EPOD - a service of USRA
The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.
Encore - Snow Eyes
January 25, 2020
Snow eyes 1
Today and every Saturday Earth Science Picture of the Day invites you
to rediscover favorites from the past. Saturday posts feature an EPOD
that was chosen by viewers like you in our monthly Viewers' Choice
polls. Join us as we look back at these intriguing and captivating
images.
Photographer: John Adam
Summary Author: John Adam
Snow eyes inset April 2014 Viewer's Choice Early in March 2014,
I took this series of photographs on the way to my office at Old
Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. There had been a snowfall
of an inch or two (2.5-5.0 cm) the previous day and the temperature was
a couple of degrees above freezing (32 F or 0 C). I was intrigued by
this pattern of eyes in the snow over two very different length
scales. The smaller one, the gap between adjacent eyes, was 5-6 in
(12-15 cm). There was an electrical power line above from which melting
ice could drip onto the road, but it was taut and straight; whereas the
position of the eyespots followed the curve of the snow-covered grassy
median to a great extent. Furthermore, it's unlikely that the pattern
from melting snow would have been so regularly distributed. Paw prints
of a one-legged dog, perhaps. Possibly, it was a woman wearing boots
with narrow heels; the wet snow might have been thin enough under the
sole of the boot to melt more rapidly than around the heel. The
cone-like residue from the heel-print is all that remained.
Given the small distance between them, the stride would have been only
about a foot long (30 cm); though small mincing steps might have been a
result of the person worrying about slipping on ice. But, paw or
footprints of some kind would surely be alternatively offset more than
they are here, so that doesn’t seem to be a completely realistic
explanation. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a clown juggling power tools
while wearing stiletto heels. Maybe readers can supply a more
convincing explanation. Thanks to Doug Stith, Steve Arcone and Jim
Foster for an interesting discussion.
Photo Details: Top - Camera: Olympus SP570UZ; Focal Length: 4.6mm;
Aperture: f/5.6; Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250); ISO equiv: 64. First
inset - same except: Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320). Second inset -
same except: Focal Length: 17.1mm; Aperture: f/5.0; Exposure Time:
0.0050 s (1/200).
* Old Dominion University, Virginia Coordinates: 36.8865,
-76.3052
Related EPODs
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Snow Crystal Northern Hemisphere Seasonal Snow Cover Map (December
20, 2019)
More...
Cryosphere Links
* Guide to Frost
* What is the Cryosphere?
* Bentley Snow Crystals
* Glaciers of the World
* Ice, Snow, and Glaciers: The Water Cycle
* The National Snow and Ice Data Center Google Earth Images
* Snow and Ice Crystals
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