A global satellite-derived data set provides the maximum percentage of snow-covered and persistent cloud-covered land observed over eight-day periods. The data is aggregated to a 0.05-degree climate modeling grid, which corresponds to a spatial resolution of approximately 5 kilometers. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was last updated in March 2026.
Use Cases
- Modeling global snow albedo feedback based on maximum snow cover percentage.
- Analyzing seasonal snow cover trends based on eight-day composite observations.
- Studying persistent cloud cover over snow and ice regions based on the cloud-covered land percentage.
- Validating hydrological models using gridded snow cover data at a 5km resolution.
Strengths
- Data is derived from the MODIS/Terra satellite sensor, a well-established source for Earth observation.
- Provides a consistent 8-day composite product, reducing the impact of daily cloud cover.
- Aggregated to a standardized 0.05-degree climate modeling grid for easier integration with models.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic or temporal bias inherent to the satellite's orbit and sensor capabilities.
Provenance
- Source
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Collection Method
- Computed from snow cover observations in the 'MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid' data set.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-03-05 19:58:09.649923; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Global