Alaskan boreal forest and coastal tundra sites provide vertical profiles of snow reflectance and specific surface area (SSA). Data were collected as part of the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign using an A2 Photonic Sensor IceCube. NSIDC_CPRD published the processed snow-off data on October 28, 2023.
Use Cases
- Validate snow albedo models based on in-situ reflectance measurements at 1310 nm.
- Study snow microstructure evolution based on specific surface area profiles.
- Compare snow properties between boreal forest and coastal tundra environments.
- Support satellite data calibration for snow-covered regions based on ground-truth SSA.
Strengths
- Data originates from the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign, a structured scientific effort.
- Coverage includes two distinct Alaskan environments: boreal forest and coastal tundra.
- SSA values are derived using a published method (Gallet et al., 2009).
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 bias inherent to nasa_earthdata, focusing on two Alaskan regions.
Provenance
- Source
- NSIDC_CPRD
- Collection Method
- In-situ measurement using an A2 Photonic Sensor IceCube (1310 nm), processed following Gallet et al., (2009).
- Freshness
- Last updated 2023-10-28 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Boreal forest in Fairbanks region (Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest, Caribou Poker Creek watershed, Farmers Loop/Creamer’s Field) and coastal tundra on North Slope (Arctic coastal plain, Upper Kuparuk Toolik), Alaska, USA.