Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Snowy Great Britain

Snowy Great Britain

Original - A satellite image showing Great Britain covered in snow during the European winter storms of 2009–10.

Reason

A glorious image that's received a nice bit of press attention over here- see this BBC article, for instance. I've seen it on TV a few times. There's possible even enough for an article on this image itself. The image illustrates our current cold snap extremely well. Currently only used in one article as it is so young (as well as my userpage :)), but I have no doubt that such a striking and high quality shot has a place in many. I'd just like to anticipate comparisons to the equally beautiful File:Scandinavia.TMO2003050.jpg, and note that this image illustrates something completely different- the idea of Britain being covered in snow like this is strange- I don't think it's occurred in my lifetime, and this is the longest cold snap for several decades. I appreciate that there is a little cloud cover here, and so this is not quite at the same level as the other in terms of being a "perfect shot", but this is not meant to be a shot of a "typical winter Britain", as the other is a shot of a "typical winter Scandanavia". And, of course, a little cloud cover is to be expected (and even favoured) in this case, due to the fact this is trying to illustrate the weather, rather than the geography.

Articles in which this image appears

European winter storms of 2009–10, Winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom, Terra (satellite)

Creator

NASA

• Support as nominator --J Milburn (talk) 23:34, 7 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support per nom. Durova³⁹⁴ 01:16, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support –Juliancolton | ^Talk
• Support: This is why my flat won't get warm and why I can't bring myself to get up for work in the morning! Apart from that sentimental value, very good image, great in its article. Maedin\^talk 06:57, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support As soon as I saw this picture on the main page headlines I came straight in here to make sure it was nominated... Very striking picture and certainly a rare image given how long its been since we were this snow-covered...Gazhiley (talk) 09:39, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support -- I did the same as Gazhiley, it's a really fantastic image. There's currently no FP for the PotD on Monday (11th), what's the process for adding this in (assuming it's becomes an FP)? bad_germ 09:57, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

It's decided in advance? I thought it was a random image from the general pot of FP's... Gazhiley (talk) 10:38, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

This Monday 11th? It won't even be closed by then so won't be POTD. No, it's not just a random image, in general they basically follow the order of FP promotion. See Wikipedia:Picture_of_the_day/January_2010 for this month's archive. --jjron (talk) 12:01, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Well I never... You learn something new every day around here! Thanks! Though now i won't have the feeling of anticipation every time i log into wiki to see if a FP I've voted on is front page... Ah well... Gazhiley (talk) 13:21, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

• Support Great picture. These don't come around often Tim1337 (talk) 10:26, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support. This image appeared in all the Spanish newspapers today to illustrate their stories, if that counts as international impact ;-) The image also has educational value: if you look carefully, you'll see a few bits on the West coast that are not covered by snow, an effect of the North Atlantic Current. Physchim62 (talk) 14:42, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Just to mention this also appears on the front page of our local newspaper today in South Wales (albeit a cropped version showing just Wales) so i can attest to it being all over the media if our little old paper has it too! Gazhiley (talk) 15:13, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

• I like it a lot, but... it could be better. The lower-res image (commons:File:British Isles on 7 January 2010.jpg) is slightly larger in scope - it includes Orkney and Shetland, whilst Shetland is cropped out of this one and we lose half of Orkney. The master copy from which both were made must exist somewhere - is it possible to obtain a high-resolution version of the complete one rather than the incomplete one? Shimgray | talk | 14:49, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
  • The raw data this comes from is available from NASA here. However, MODIS imagery suffers badly from bowtie distortion and its not at all easy to fix it. I've had a quick play can generated a image covering the whole of the UK and Ireland with a resolution ~4500x5000. However, NASA are much better at fixing the distortion than me. I can upload my version and present as an alt if required.--Nilfanion (talk) 18:34, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support Nice one --Herby ^{talk thyme} 17:52, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support, however there is some nasty banding artifacts in the sea. (I can see some in just about every area of sea without cloud cover) I'd prefer one with that fixed.--Nilfanion (talk) 18:34, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support - A fantastic image which shows a beautiful blanket of snow unprecedented in my lifetime. Used on the front page of multiple newspapers in Britain. - hahnchen 22:44, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support High quality image with very considerable EV. Nick-D (talk) 03:37, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support I love it. --IP69.226.103.13 | Talk about me. 05:38, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support A beautiful picture - thank you Terra (satellite)! :-) Colds7ream (talk) 09:42, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support. This is the epitome of a picture speaking a thousand words, and truly something you don't see very often. I archived a copy on first sight! 81.157.43.45 (talk) 15:07, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
  • Sorry, we can't accept votes made by IPs. Please log in! Thanks, :) Maedin\^talk 21:14, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support marvelous image, perhaps good illustration for Climategate and Global warming controversy articles? :-) Caspian blue 21:33, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support I probably wouldn't put it in the articles mentioned by Caspian Blue unless there are references in either direction mentioning the storms specifically in relation to global warming. Noodle snacks (talk) 06:44, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support. Definitely something you don't see everyday! Hayden120 (talk) 03:15, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
• Support in agreement with the above. --candle•wicke 19:42, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Promoted File:Great_Britain_Snowy.jpg --Makeemlighter (talk) 18:00, 15 January 2010 (UTC)