ARCSS138 Global Snow-Water-Equivalent Depth Coefficient-of-Variation Classification Glen E. Liston Global Snow-Water-Equivalent Depth Coefficient-of-Variation Classification 2005-01-20 Boulder, Colorado USA NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org/data/arcss138.html Investigator Glen E. Liston liston@tachu.atmos.colostate.edu 1 970 491-7473

Department of Atmospheric Science

Colorado State University

Fort Collins CO 80523 Technical Contact NSIDC User Services nsidc@nsidc.org 1 303 492-6199 x 1 303 492-2468 x

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA EARTH SCIENCE Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Cover EARTH SCIENCE Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Depth EARTH SCIENCE Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Melt EARTH SCIENCE Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Water Equivalent EARTH SCIENCE Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Cover EARTH SCIENCE Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Depth EARTH SCIENCE Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Melt EARTH SCIENCE Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Water Equivalent Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere ADCC ARCSS138 Arctic System Science Data Coordination Center ATLAS FWI LAII National Science Foundation NSF OPP-0229973 OPP-9415386 OPP-9732077 1994-01-01 2004-01-01 -90 90 -180 180 GEOGRAPHIC REGION GLOBAL GEOGRAPHIC REGION GLOBAL LAND ARCSS/LAII Arctic System Science/Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interaction ARCSS/LAII/ATLAS Arctic System Science/LAII/Arctic Transitions in the Land-Atmosphere System English NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org Data Center Contact NSIDC User Services nsidc@nsidc.org 1 303 492-6199 1 303 492-2468

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA NSIDC_ARCSS NSIDC Arctic System Science Data Coordination Center http://nsidc.org/arcss/ Data Center Contact NSIDC ARCSS User Services nsidc@nsidc.org 1 303 492-6199 1 303 492-2468

National Snow and Ice Data Center

CIRES, 449 UCB

University of Colorado

Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA FTP 2.2 MB Binary Liston, G. E. 2004. Representing subgrid snow cover heterogeneities in regional and global models. Journal of Climate 17(6): 1381-97.

This data set provides a global distribution of nine subgrid snow-depth-variability categories and a coefficient of variation applicable to each category, as the result of the Subgrid SNOW Distribution (SSNOWD) submodel that defines subgrid snow-depth and snow-cover variability. This data set provides the distribution of those nine categories and their coefficient-of-variation values on a global, 2.5 arc-min latitude-longitude (approximately 5-km) grid. The time period covered is 1 January 1994 through 1 January 2004. The SSNOWD submodel was formulated to improve the depiction of autumn through spring land-atmosphere interactions and feedbacks within global weather, climate, and hydrologic models. From both atmospheric and hydrologic perspectives, the subgrid snow-depth distribution is an important quantity to account for within large-scale models. In the natural system, these subgrid snow-depth distributions are largely responsible for the mosaic of snow-covered and snow-free areas that develop as the snow melts, and the impacts of these fractional areas must be quantified in order to realistically simulate grid-averaged surface fluxes. SSNOWD's formulation incorporates observational studies showing that snow distributions can be described by a lognormal distribution and the snow-depth coefficient-of-variation (CV). Using an understanding of the physical processes that lead to these observed snow-depth variations, a global distribution of nine subgrid snow-depth-variability categories was developed, and coefficient-of-variation values were assigned to each category based on published measurements. Data are in binary format.

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION http://nsidc.org/data/arcss045.html Global Seasonal Snow Classification System CEOS IDN DIF 9.7 2005-01-20 2011-09-02 Fixed the data citation.