History of Winter-HOW introduction.

The History of Winter (HOW) program is comprised of a one week professional development/"teacher as scientist" cryosphere science training camp, held annually during mid February in Lake Placid, New York. Each year the NASA Goddard HOW program selects a diverse group of teachers from around the country to participate in a comprehensive study of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

The winter landscape is used as a "teacher" to better understand snow and ice processes and the impact of weather and climate at the micro and mesoscale. Snow in the air and on the ground, ice on Earth and in the Solar System, its crystal structure and axial orientation, and the ecosystem consequences of snow and ice constitute the week-long content package. Each year, program components and resources are added to HOW to provide continued, sustainable interest in the program. The Thermochron Quest and the Global Snowflake Network (GSN) are two such examples.

The concept of HOW within NASA is to provide understanding of the "why" and "what" regarding satellite remote sensing. Techniques presented in protocols are identical to those used by snow hydrologists to evaluate features attributable to snow metamorphism, and to records in thin sections of ice cores drilled in ice caps and glaciers.

HOW is supported by multimedia web resources asynchronously providing participants with detail of the content and procedures. The development of online HOW resources is guided by this principle and is focused toward facilitating the expansion of the HOW workshop to other locations. It is the project's intent to foster the growth of a HOW program in each of the "snow biome" regions.

The eight videos on YouTube provide an indepth introduction into the History of Winter (HOW) Program and the Global Snowflake Network (GSN).