MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) Image Map

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Entry ID

NSIDC-0280

Summary

Staff from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the University of New Hampshire have assembled two digital image maps of surface morphology and optical snow grain size that cover the Antarctic continent and its surrounding islands. The MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) image maps are derived from composites of 260 MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) orbit swaths acquired between 20 November 2003 and 29 February 2004. The MOA provides a cloud-free view of the ice sheet, ice shelves, and land surfaces, and a quantitative measure of optical snow grain size for snow- or ice-covered areas. All land areas larger than a few hundred meters that are south of 60° S are included in the mosaic, as well as persistent fast ice regions and some grounded icebergs present near the coast in the 2003-2004 austral summer. The MOA surface morphology image map is derived from digitally processed MODIS Band 1 data. The optical snow grain size image is compiled using a normalized ratio of atmospherically corrected, calibrated band radiance data from Bands 1 and 2.

The data are available via FTP at two spatial grid scales: 750 m (112 MB) and 125 m (4 GB), and via a Web-based map server that can create manually-selected Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) images (as of this writing, the Web-based map server has only a qualitative grain size image and not the final grain size data product). Image data on the FTP site include binary 16-bit images that preserve the full radiometric content of the scenes. A complete discussion of data selection, processing, and validation along with examples of data applications are discussed in Scambos et al., 2007.

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: Ted Scambos
Dataset Title: MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) Image Map
Dataset Release Date: 2005-11-02
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, Colorado USA
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0280.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2003-11-20
Stop Date: 2004-02-29

Data Resolution

Latitude Resolution: 250 m
Longitude Resolution: 250 m

Location Keywords

• Continent Antarctica
• Geographic Region Polar

Science Keywords

• Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Firn Snow Grain Size
• Cryosphere Glaciers/Ice Sheets Ice Sheets Surface Morphology
• Cryosphere Snow/Ice
• Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice

Ancillary Keywords

• AGDC
• Antarctica
• Aqua
• MODIS
• Satellite Imagery
• Satellites
• snow grain size
• Surface Morphology
• Terra

ISO Topic Category (View Definitions)

• Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere
• Imagery/Base Maps/Earth Cover

Platform

• SATELLITES

Instrument

• MODIS Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

NSIDC_AGDC

Data Center

NSIDC Antarctic Glaciological Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/agdc/
Data Set ID: NSIDC-0280

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC AGDC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

NSIDC U.S. Antarctic Data Coordination Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/usadcc/
Data Set ID: NSIDC-0280

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC USADCC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 1.8 GB compressed; 6.7 GB uncompressed
Distribution Format: GeoTIFF and binary
Fees: none

Distribution Media: online (HTTP)
Distribution Format: JPEG
Fees: none

Personnel

Terry Haran
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449

Jennifer Bohlander
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449

Ted Scambos
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Email: scambos@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449

Thomas Painter
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
Center for the Study of Earth from Space (CSES)
CIRES, 216 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0216

Mark Fahnestock
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 603-862-0322
Email: mark.fahnestock@unh.edu
Contact Address:
University of New Hampshire
39 College Road
City: Durham
Province or State: NH
Postal Code: 03824-3525
Country: USA

NSIDC USER SERVICES
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Related URL

GET DATA
FTP site for obtaining these data.

GET SERVICE > ACCESS MAP VIEWER
View these and other data in NSIDC's Antarctic Cryosphere Access Portal (A-CAP) online map viewer.

GET SERVICE > GET WEB COVERAGE SERVICE (WCS)
Access these data in GeoTIFF format using the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Coverage Service (WCS).

GET SERVICE > GET WEB MAP SERVICE (WMS)
Access these data as map images using the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS).

VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
MODIS Data at NSIDC

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
RAMP Data at NSIDC

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Images of Antarctic Ice Shelves

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Radarsat Antarctic Mapping Project Digital Elevation Model Version 2

Reference

Bindschadler, R. A. and P. L. Vornberger. 1990. AVHRR Imagery reveals Antarctic ice dynamics. EOS 71(23), 741-742.

Bohlander, J., T. Scambos, T. Haran, M. Fahnestock. 2004. A New MODIS-based Mosaic of Antarctica: MOA. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 85(47). F452.

Bourdelles, B., and M. Fily. 1993. Snow grain-size determination from Landsat imagery over Terre Adélie, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology 17, 86-92.

Cooper, A. P. R. 1994. A simple shape-from-shading algorithm applied to images of ice-covered terrain. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 32(6), 1196–1198. Dowdeswell, J. A., and McIntyre, N. F. 1987. The surface topography of large ice masses from Landsat imagery. Journal of Glaciology 33(133), 16–33.

Greene, N. and P. S. Heckbert. 1986. Creating Raster Omnimax Images from Multiple Perspective Views Using the Elliptical Weighted Average Filter. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 6(6). 21-27.

Fahnestock, M. A., R. Bindschadler, R. Kwok, and K. Jezek. 1993. Greenland Ice Sheet surface properties and ice dynamics from ERS-1 SAR imagery. Science 262, 1530–1534.

Ferrigno, J. G., J. L. Mullins, J. A. Stapleton, R. A. Bindschadler, T. A. Scambos, L. B. Bellisime, J. A. Bowell, and A. V. Acosta. 1994. Landsat TM image maps of the Shirase and Siple Coast ice streams, West Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology 20, 407-412. Fily, M, B. Bourdelles, J. P. Dedieu, and C. Sergent. 1997. Comparison of in situ and Landsat Thematic Mapper derived snow grain characteristics in the Alps. Remote Sensing of Environment 59. 452-460.

Haran , T. M., M. A. Fahnestock, and T. A. Scambos. 2002. De-striping of MODIS optical bands for ice sheet mapping and topography. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 88(47). F317.

Jezek, K. 1999. Glaciological properties of the Antarctic ice sheet, from Radarsat-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery. Annals of Glaciology 29, 286–290. Merson, R. H., 1989. An AVHRR mosaic image of Antarctica. International Journal of Remote Sensing 10, 669.

Nolin, A. W., and J. Dozier. 2000. A hyperspectral method fro remotely sensing the grain size of snow. Remote Sensing of Environment 74(2), 207-216.

Orheim, O. and B. Lucchitta. 1988. Numerical analysis of Landsat thematic mapper images of Antarctica: surface temperatures and physical properties. Annals of Glaciology 11, 109.

Orheim, O., and B. Lucchitta. 1990. Investigating climate change by digital analysis of blue ice extent on satellite images of Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology 14, 211-215. Painter, T., and J. Dozier. 2004. Measurements of the hemispherical-directional reflectance of snow at fine spectral and angular resolution. Journal of Geophysical Research 109, D18115, doi:10.1029/2003JD004458.

Ricchiazzi, P., S. Yang, C. Gautier, and D. Sowle. 1998. SBDART: A research and teaching software tool for plane-parallel radiative transfer in the Earth’s atmosphere. Bulletin of American Meteorological Society 79(10), 2101-2114.

Scambos, T. A., and R. A. Bindschadler. 1991. Feature map of Ice Streams C, D, and E, West Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the United States 26(5), 312-314.

Scambos, T., G. Kvaran, and M. Fahnestock. 1999. Improving AVHRR resolution through data cumulating for mapping polar ice sheets. Remote Sensing of Environment 69. 56-66.

Scambos, T. A., and M. A. Fahnestock. 1998. Improving digital elevation models over ice sheets using AVHRR-based photoclinometry. Journal of Glaciology 44, 97–103. Scambos, T. A., Dutkiewitcz, M. J., Wilson, J. C., and R. A. Bindschadler. 1992. Application of image cross-correlation software to the measurement of glacier velocity using satellite image data. Remote Sensing of Environment 42, 177-186. Scambos, T., T. Haran, M. Fahnestock, T. Painter, and J. Bohlander. 2007. MODIS-based Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) data sets: continent-wide surface morphology and snow grain size. Remote Sensing of Environment. In press.

Seko, K., Furukawa, T., Nishio, F., and Watanabe, O. 1993. Undulating topography on the Antarctic ice sheet revealed by NOAA AVHRR images. Annals of Glaciology 17, 55–62.

Swithinbank, C., K. Brunk, and J. Sievers. 1988. A glaciological map of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology 11, 150–155.

USGS. 1991. Satellite Image Map of Antarctica, 1:5,000,000. Miscellaneous Map Investigation Series I-2284.

USGS. 1996. Satellite Image Map of Antarctica, 1:5,000,000. Miscellaneous Map Investigation Series I-2560.

Warren, S. 1982. Optical properties of snow. Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics 20(1), 67-89.

Winther, Jan-G., M. N. Jespersen and G. E. Liston. 2001. Blue-ice areas in Antarctica derived from NOAA AVHRR satellite data. Journal of Glaciology 47(157), 325–334.

Wolfe, R. E., M. Nishihama, A. J. Fleig, J. A. Kuyper, D. P. Roy, J. C. Storey and F. S. Patt. 2002. Achieving sub-pixel geolocation accuracy in support of MODIS land science. Remote Sensing of the Environment 83 (1-2), 31-49.

Metadata Name and Version

Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2005-11-02
Last DIF Revision Date: 2009-05-20

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