Northern Hemisphere Daily Snow Depth Analysis, 1998-2013

Northern Hemisphere snow depth analysis data processed by the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC). The dataset includes daily observations from 1998 through 2013, with monthly averages and climatologies of snow depth and estimated snow water equivalent (SWE). Data were acquired from surface synoptic observations (SYNOPS), meteorological aviation reports (METARs), and special aviation reports (SAS) via the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) information system.

Use Cases

• Modeling snow water equivalent (SWE) for hydrological forecasting based on snow depth data and density look-up tables.
• Analyzing long-term trends in Northern Hemisphere snow cover based on daily observations from 1998-2013.
• Creating monthly climatologies of snow depth for climate model validation based on provided monthly averages.
• Studying seasonal snowpack evolution using daily snow depth analysis data from surface and aviation reports.

Strengths

• Data spans 16 years of daily observations from 1998 through 2013.
• Includes derived monthly averages and climatologies for snow depth and estimated snow water equivalent (SWE).
• Volume of the dataset is approximately four gigabytes, indicating substantial data coverage.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the distribution of surface and aviation reporting stations.

Provenance

Source

Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC)

Collection Method

Data obtained from surface synoptic observations (SYNOPS), meteorological aviation reports (METARs), and special aviation reports (SAS) acquired from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) information system.

Time Range

1998 through 2013

Freshness

Will be updated annually, but last update date is unknown.

Geography

Northern Hemisphere