Global Monthly Snow Water Equivalent Climatology on EASE-Grid

Global Monthly EASE-Grid Snow Water Equivalent Climatology provides a 29-year record of satellite-derived snow mass data from November 1978 to May 2007. The dataset is produced by NASA, gridded at 25 km resolution on Northern and Southern Hemisphere Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grids. It combines measurements from SMMR and SSM/I sensors, with Northern Hemisphere data enhanced by snow cover frequency information.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in snow mass storage for climate change studies using the monthly SWE climatologies.
• Validating hydrological and land surface models that require gridded snow water equivalent inputs on the EASE-Grid projection.
• Comparing Northern Hemisphere snow characteristics, enhanced with snow cover frequency, against Southern Hemisphere data where this enhancement is absent.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous 29-year temporal record (1978-2007) for climatological analysis of snow water equivalent.
• Utilizes a standardized 25 km EASE-Grid for consistent global spatial comparison across both hemispheres.
• Integrates data from two established satellite sensor systems, SMMR and SSM/I, for measurement continuity.

Limitations

• Southern Hemisphere data lacks the snow cover frequency enhancement available for the Northern Hemisphere.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one platform lists a last update in 2026, while another indicates the core data period ended in 2007.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and selected Special Sensor Microwave/Imagers (SSM/I) satellite data.

Time Range

November 1978 through May 2007

Freshness

2026 03 13 02:13:06.901923

Geography

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