Global 8-Day Snow Cover and Water Equivalent from SSM/I and MODIS

Global EASE-Grid 8-day Blended SSM/I and MODIS Snow Cover, Version 1 provides global snow-covered area and snow water equivalent data from 2000 through 2008. The dataset is produced by the NSIDC, blending microwave data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) with optical data from MODIS/Terra. It is gridded to 25 km Northern and Southern Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grids for continental-scale time-series analysis.

Use Cases

• Analyzing inter-annual variability in global snow cover extent using the 8-day Snow-Covered Area (SCA) time series.
• Modeling snowpack water storage and runoff potential with Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) values on the EASE-Grid.
• Validating regional climate or hydrological models against a consistent, multi-year global snow product.
• Studying the relationship between microwave-derived SWE and optical-derived SCA across different terrains.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent 9-year global time series (2000-2008) for long-term trend analysis.
• Blends two sensor types (SSM/I microwave and MODIS optical) to leverage the strengths of each for snow measurement.
• Data is gridded to a standardized 25 km EASE-Grid projection, facilitating continental-scale comparisons.

Limitations

• Exact row/record count and file size are not specified across any source.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata, with dates ranging from 2008-02-01 to 2026-03-13, suggesting potential platform synchronization issues.
• The dataset's temporal coverage ends in 2008, limiting analysis of recent snow cover changes.

Provenance

Source

NSIDC (National Snow and Ice Data Center)

Collection Method

Data derived from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and enhanced with MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-Day Level 3 Global 0.05 degree CMG data.

Time Range

2000 through 2008

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:14:21.911606

Geography

Global, gridded to Northern and Southern 25 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grids (EASE-Grids)