This plugin explores Surface Albedo, a measure of how much sunlight is reflected by a surface. Light-colored surfaces, like snow and ice, have a high albedo and reflect most of the sun's energy back into space. Dark-colored surfaces, like oceans and forests, have a low albedo and absorb the energy, warming the Earth.
Changes in albedo are a critical part of Earth's climate system. For example, as the planet warms, snow and ice melt earlier in the year. This exposes darker ground underneath, which absorbs more heat and causes even more melting—a process known as a positive feedback loop.
This tool connects to the NASA POWER API. You will fetch daily surface albedo data for locations of your choice to observe their "signature pattern"—how albedo changes with the seasons.
Click below to fetch the All-Sky Surface Albedo data from the NASA POWER server for your selected location and dates.
Now that the data is loaded into CODAP, try graphing it! Put Date on the X-axis and Albedo on the Y-axis.
If your location has snow in the winter, you should see the albedo increase (closer to 1.0) during the winter months because snow is highly reflective. In the summer, when the snow melts and exposes dirt and trees, the albedo should drop (closer to 0.0).