Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) Data Products at NSIDC

Summary

This data set contains output from the NOAA National Weather Service's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) SNOw Data Assimilation System (SNODAS). SNODAS is a modeling and data assimilation system developed by NOHRSC to provide the best possible estimates of snow cover and associated variables to support hydrologic modeling and analysis. The aim of SNODAS is to provide a physically consistent framework to integrate snow data from satellite and airborne platforms and ground stations with model estimates of snow cover (Carroll et al. 2001). SNODAS includes procedures to ingest and downscale output from Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models and to simulate snowcover using a physically based, spatially-distributed energy- and mass-balance snow model. SNODAS also includes procedures to assimilate satellite-derived, airborne, and ground-based observations of snow covered area and Snow Water Equivalent (SWE).

These data are not suitable for snowfall events or totals for specific regions. For snowfall data, please see the state climatology reports for a particular state. These are gridded data sets for the continental United States at 1 km spatial resolution and 24 hour temporal resolution. Data are stored in flat binary 16-bit signed integer big-endian format with header and metadata files, and are available from 30 September 2003 to present via FTP.

Citing These Data

These data are offered free of charge. You may use these data freely, provided that you cite NSIDC as the source, and provide an acknowledgment in any published papers.

The following example shows how to cite the use of these data sets in a publication. List the principal investigators, year of data set release, data set title and version number, dates of the data you used (for example, March to June 2004). Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media.

National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center. 2004. Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) Data Products at NSIDC, [list the dates of the data used]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media.

Overview Table
 

Category	Description
Data format	Flat binary, 16-bit signed integer (big-endian) Note: The data format information in this document represents the data in its native format as it is archived at NSIDC. If you have downloaded a data set using Polaris, please consult the 00README file located in the tar file for information on what data format operations were performed on this data set.
Spatial coverage and resolution	Contiguous United States and parts of Canada: Southernmost Latitude: 24.9504 ° N Northernmost Latitude: 52.8754 ° N Westernmost Longitude: 124.7337 ° W Easternmost Longitude: 66.9421 ° W 30 arc seconds resolution
Temporal coverage and resolution	30 September 2003 to present. 24-hour temporal resolution. See the table Daily NOHRSC SNODAS Products at NSIDC for more information.
Grid type and size	Grid values are 16-bit signed integers (big-endian) Grids are 6,935 columns by 3,351 rows
Projection Description	Projection: Geographic (latitude/longitude coordinates) Datum: WGS 1984
File naming convention	FTP Daily files: SNODAS_YYYYMMDD.tar FTP Monthly files: SNODAS_YYYYMM.tar
File size	Compressed file sizes vary greatly depending on snow coverage; uncompressed size is 46.5 MB with a 3.6 - 3.8 KB header file.
Parameters	Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) Snow Depth Snow Melt Runoff at the Base of the Snow Pack Sublimation from the Snow Pack Sublimation of Blowing Snow Solid Precipitation Liquid Precipitation Snow Pack Average Temperature
Metadata access	View metadata
Data access	Data are available via FTP. To search and subset the data, use Polaris.

Table of Contents

1. Contacts
2. Detailed Data Description
3. Data Access and Tools
4. Data Acquisition and Processing
5. References and Related Publications
6. Acknowledgments
7. Document Information

1. Contacts

Investigators

Andrew P. Barrett
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
University of Colorado
449 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
USA

Thomas Carroll (Retired)
National Weather Service
National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
1735 Lake Drive W.
Chanhassen, MN 55317
USA

Technical Contact

2. Detailed Data Description

NOHRSC, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, provides snow information in a variety of products and formats to meet operational forecasting needs. Most of these products are available from the NOHRSC Web site. NSIDC and NOHRSC have agreed that NSIDC will archive and distribute selected parameters from the NOHRSC SNODAS. These output files are valuable for hydrologists, hydrologic modelers, climatologists, ecologists, and land surface modelers. This documentation draws heavily on an assessment of SNODAS products by Barrett (2003) and on material provided by NOHRSC. Consult these sources for additional information.

The SNODAS product is model output and should not be confused with actual observations. For information on snowfall events or snowfall totals, please contact one of the climate centers listed below:

• American Association of State Climatologists Web site
• NOAA Regional Climate Centers Web site
• NOAA National Climatic Data Center Web site

Eight driving, state, and diagnostic parameters are archived by NSIDC. Driving parameters are ingested from the Rapid Update Cycle 2 (RUC2) NWP model and used to force the snow model. State variables are defined here as parameters that the snow model keeps track of and that describe the state of the model snow pack. State variables are modeled snow pack characteristics that are also required to initialize the model. Diagnostic variables are model output but do not describe the internal state of the model. The parameters archived by NSIDC are listed in Table 1 and can be used to compute snow water balance.

Table 1. Daily NOHRSC SNODAS Products at NSIDC

Parameters	Units	Scale Factor1	Product Code	Description	Variable Type
SWE	meters	1000	1034	Snapshot at 06:00 UTC	State
Snow Depth	meters	1000	1036	Snapshot at 06:00 UTC	State
Snow Melt Runoff at the Base of the Snow Pack	meters	100,000	1044	Total of 24 per hour melt rates, 06:00 UTC-06:00 UTC	Diagnostic
Sublimation from the Snow Pack	meters	100,000	1050	Total of 24 per hour sublimation rates, 06:00 UTC-06:00 UTC	Diagnostic
Sublimation of Blowing Snow	meters	100,000	1039	Total of 24 per hour sublimation rates, 06:00 UTC-06:00 UTC	Diagnostic
Solid Precipitation	kg/m2	10	1025 (v code = IL01)	24 hour total, 06:00 UTC-06:00 UTC	Driving
Liquid Precipitation	kg/m2	10	1025 (v code = IL00)	24 hour total, 06:00 UTC-06:00 UTC	Driving
Snow Pack Average Temperature2	kelvin	1	1038		State
1To convert integers in files to model output values, divide integers in files by scale factor. 2Please note that Snowpack Average Temperatures are integers.

 

Format

SNODAS data files are supplied to NSIDC as flat binary 16-bit signed integer big-endian grids. A header file is also supplied to NSIDC as a text file, which includes metadata. The data files can be read by user-written routines such as Fortran and C programs; off-the-shelf image processing packages such as ENVI, IDL, MATLAB, and ERDAS IMAGINE; and by GIS and other mapping packages such as GMT, GRASS, and ARC/INFO. For instructions, such as importing files into ENVI, refer to Barrett (2003).

The header files contain information to georegister grids contained in the flat binary files. They also contain information about creation and modification of each file, data type of each file, georeferencing data, maximum and minimum values, calibration/scaling information, and a time stamp for each field. Two attributes of the header file that most users will want to pay attention to are the minimum/maximum x and y axis coordinates.  These are the grid cell edges that define the extents of the grid.

If you are using ArcMap to display and analyze SNODAS products, the data will not display correctly and values may be modified. This modification occurs because SNODAS data are signed integers and ArcMap reads unsigned integers. You will need to perform the Map Algebra function in ArcMap in order to correct the data. For instructions on how to perform the Map Algebra function in ArcMap, go to the Importing SNODAS Data into ArcGIS document.

File and Directory Structure

The data files are organized on the FTP site in directories labeled by a four-digit year. Within the year directories, there are subdirecotories for the months of the year of the form MM_mon where MM is the two-digit month number and mon is the three-character month abbreviation. Each month directory contains the tarred archive file, usually one for each day of the month. See the File Naming Convention section of this document for information on the data file names. Figure 1 shows a sample of the directory structure.

Figure 1. FTP Directory Structure

 

File Naming Convention

This section describes the file names of the files on the FTP site and not those acquired via Polaris. There are eight daily data files (one for each data parameter) and eight daily header files (one for each data file) that are compressed using gzip. These 16 gzipped files are packaged together into one daily tar file and placed on the FTP site.

Follow the links below to see the file naming convention for that type of file:

• Tarred Daily File Naming Convention (.tar)
• Untarred Daily File Naming Convention (.gz)
• Data and Header File Naming Convention (.dat and .hdr)

Tarred Daily File Naming Convention (.tar)

The data are available through the FTP site as daily tar files with the following naming convention and as described in Table 2:

SNODAS_YYYYMMDD.tar

Where:

Table 2. FTP Daily Tar File Variables

Variable	Description
SNODAS	Identifies this as SNODAS data
YYYY	4-digit year
MM	2-digit month
DD	2-digit day of month
.tar	Identifies that this file has been tarred

 

Untarred Daily File Naming Convention (.gz)

Once you untar the daily files, you will find 16 gzipped files: Eight data files and eight header files. The gizipped files have the following naming format and are described in Table 4:

rr_mmmffppppSvvvvTttttooooTSyyyymmddhhIPOOO.xxx.gz

Where:

Table 4. Values for the FTP Daily Tar File and Data and Header File Variables

Variable	Description
rr	Region of the file (us: United States)
mmm	Model used to generate the estimates (ssm: simple snow model)
ff	Signifies if the file contains snow model driving data or model output v0: Driving data such as precipitation v1: Operational snow model output
pppp	Product code 1025: Precipitation 1034: Snow water equivalent 1036: Snow depth 1038: Snow pack average temperature 1039: Blowing snow sublimation 1044: Snow melt 1050: Snow pack sublimation
S	Denotes driving variables have been down scaled from NWP model resolution to the resolution of SNODAS. This code only appears in filenames for driving variables.
vvvv	A vertical integration code that denotes what type of snow pack data are being collected. Precipitation data: lL00: Non-snow (liquid) precipitation lL01: Snow precipitation. Snow model outputs: lL00: Fluxes to and from the snow surface such as sublimation tS__: Integral through all the layers of the snow pack bS__: Bottom of the snow pack such as snow melt wS__: Snow-water-equivalent-weighted average of the snowpack layers
Ttttt	Time integration code: T0024: A quantity integrated over 24 hours (generally used for mass and energy fluxes) T0001: A one-hour snapshot (generally used for states, such as SWE) Note: Files with a product code (pppp) of 1038 have a time integration code of the form Atttt. All other values are the same.
oooo	Detail of snow modeling operations (will always be TTNA)
TS	Stands for time step code . It is followed by the year, month, day, and hour of the start of the last time step of the integration period for which these data apply. For example, the time integration code, T0024, and time step code, TS2003102305, are for the time interval 2003-10-22 06 to 2003-10-23 05.
yyyy	4-digit year
mm	2-digit month
dd	2-digit day of month
hh	2-digit hour of day
I	Time interval (H: hourly, D: daily). In general, H is associated with rasters with a time integration code of T001 and D is associated with rasters with a time integration code of T0024.
P00O	Offset code that refers to where the data applies during a snow model time step in the snow model's differencing scheme. P001: Denotes that a field represents a total flux for the entire time step such as precipitation or that a field represents data at the end of a time step. P000: Denotes a field of data from the start of a time step.
xxx	File extension .dat: Data file .Hdr: Header file
.gz	Identifies that this file has been compressed using gzip.
Example: us_ssmv11034tST0001TTNATS2003102305HP001.dat is modeled snow water equivalent (ssmv11034) summed for all the layers of the snow model (tS__). It is the output from just one hour (T0001), representing the time step starting at 2003-10-23, 0500h (TS2003102305). It is potentially generated for every hour of the day (H), and represents the snow an hour after the start of the time step (P001), that is, SWE at 0600h.

 

Data and Header File Naming Convention (.dat and .hdr)

Each .gz file contains a data and a header file. The data and header files share the same filename with the exception of the file extension. Data files have the extension .dat and header files have the extension .Hdr. The .dat and .Hdr filenames have the following format:

rr_mmmffppppSvvvvTttttooooTSyyyymmddhhIPOOO.xxx

See Table 4 for a description of the variables in the file name.

 

File Size

Table 6 shows the size of the files depending on level of compression or tarring.

Table 6. File Sizes

File Type	Size Range
Tarred files (.tar)	1.2 MB - 35 MB
Untarred gzipped data files (.dat.gz)	56 KB - 10 MB
Untarred gzipped header files (.Hdr.gz)	1 KB
Data files (.dat)	46.5 MB
Header files (.Hdr)	3 - 4 KB

 

Sample Data Record

Sample FTP Header File

The following is a sample FTP header file associated with the file us_ssmv11034tS__T0001TTNATS2003102305HP001.Hdr.

Format version: NOHRSC GIS/RS raster file v1.1
Data source: RUC2, NESDIS, etc.
Created by module: sm_products
Created by module comment: number BARD codes: 0000000018 BARD codes:
58131678 58131679 75931875 37109162 58131676 18681689 87298325 5777000
58131674 68726564 9160380 87295989 12222 92757697 90881019 88954851
88955144 12229
Created year: 2003
Created month: 10
Created day: 23
Created hour: 8
Created minute: 53
Created second: 21
Last modified by module: sm_products
Last modified by module comment: Not applicable
Last modified year: 2003
Last modified month: 10
Last modified day: 23
Last modified hour: 8
Last modified minute: 53
Last modified second: 21
Satellite data: no
Satellite name: Not applicable
Satellite channel: 0
Satellite data calibrated: no
Description: Modeled snow water equivalent, total of snow layers
Thematic: no
Theme file: Not applicable
Data units: Meters / 1000.000000
Product code: 96687381
Attribute table: Not applicable
Data file pathname: us_ssmv11034tS__T0001TTNATS2003102305HP001.dat
Data type: integer
Data bytes per pixel: 2
Data intercept: 0.000000000000000
Data slope: 1.000000000000000
Minimum data value: 0.000000000000000
Maximum data value: 504.000000000000000
No data value: -9999.000000000000000
Number of columns: 6935
Number of rows: 3351
Geographically corrected: yes
Projected: no
Projection file: Not applicable
Horizontal datum: WGS84
Horizontal precision: 0.008333333333333
Elevation above datum: no
Vertical datum: Not applicable
Vertical precision: 0.000000000000000
Benchmark column: 0
Benchmark row: 0
Benchmark x-axis coordinate: -124.729583333331703
Benchmark y-axis coordinate: 52.871249516804028
X-axis resolution: 0.008333333333333
Y-axis resolution: 0.008333333333333
X-axis offset: 0.003749999996645
Y-axis offset: -0.003750483193850
Minimum x-axis coordinate: -124.733749999998366
Maximum x-axis coordinate: -66.942083333334011
Minimum y-axis coordinate: 24.950416183471813
Maximum y-axis coordinate: 52.875416183470698
Start year: 2003
Start month: 10
Start day: 23
Start hour: 6
Start minute: 0
Start second: 0
Stop year: 2003
Stop month: 10
Stop day: 23
Stop hour: 6
Stop minute: 0
Stop second: 0
Compressed: no
Compression file: Not applicable
Number of color tables: 0
Color table 01 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 02 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 03 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 04 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 05 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 06 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 07 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 08 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 09 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 10 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 11 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 12 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 13 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 14 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 15 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 16 descriptor: Not applicable
Color table 01 file: Not applicable
Color table 02 file: Not applicable
Color table 03 file: Not applicable
Color table 04 file: Not applicable
Color table 05 file: Not applicable
Color table 06 file: Not applicable
Color table 07 file: Not applicable
Color table 08 file: Not applicable
Color table 09 file: Not applicable
Color table 10 file: Not applicable
Color table 11 file: Not applicable
Color table 12 file: Not applicable
Color table 13 file: Not applicable
Color table 14 file: Not applicable
Color table 15 file: Not applicable
Color table 16 file: Not applicable
Histogram: no
Histogram file: Not applicable

Spatial Coverage

The data represent snow cover in the contiguous United States, extending into Canada for certain drainage basins. The spatial coordinates of the area are listed below:

Northernmost Latitude: 24.9504 ° N
Southernmost Latitude: 52.8754 ° N
Easternmost Longitude: 124.7337 ° W
Westernmost Longitude: 66.9421 ° W

Figure 5 is an example of the SNODAS SWE field displayed as an image.

Figure 5. Sample SWE Output from SNODAS

 

Grid Description

The grid for this data set is 6935 columns by 3351 rows. Grid values are 16-bit, signed integers (big-endian). The first value at (1,1) is the top-left corner of the array (NW corner in this context). The file is structured so that values are read across the rows. For example, the second value to be read would be the second column of the first row (2,1). Grid cells have a 30-arc second spacing (nominally 1 km on the ground). Model output and precipitation variables are point estimates for the center of each grid cell and not an areal estimate. However, for the purposes of hydrologic and snow cover forecasts, these point estimates are assumed to represent average conditions in each grid cell.

The x- and y- axis coordinates are listed in the header files (.hdr) associated with each data file. See a sample header file. The x-axis coordinate of the center of the upper left hand cell is given in the Benchmark x-axis coordinate, and the x-axis coordinate of the left edge of the upper left hand cell is given in the Minimum x-axis coordinate. The y-axis coordinate of the center of the upper left hand cell is given in the Benchmark y-axis coordinate, and the y-axis coordinate of the top of the upper left hand cell is given in Maximum y-axis coordinate.

The X-axis offset and the Y-axis offset in the header files are the distances between the origin and the center of the pixel that lays over the origin. The purpose of those parameters is to provide an easy way of confirming whether or not two grids are aligned, without regard to whether or not they occupy the same region.

Projecting SNODAS Data

SNODAS fields are grids of point estimates of snow cover in latitude/longitude coordinates with the horizontal datum WGS 84. Estimates of SWE and snow depth, as well as other parameters, have no real areal extent. Therefore, projecting SNODAS output to a particular projection may not be necessary. Moreover, different users prefer different projections. For example, federal agencies are likely to use the Albers Equal Area projection, while researchers may prefer an alternative such as one of the projections used for the Equal Area Scalable Earth (EASE-Grid). Refer to All About EASE-Grid for more information. Given that SNODAS outputs are essentially point estimates, the decision to project the data and choice of projection can be left to individual users.

Temporal Coverage

NSIDC archives fields representing the model state for 06:00 Universal Time (UTC). The time 06:00 UTC was chosen because this is closest to midnight for the United States. Snow data are for 01:00 local time for the East Coast and 22:00 for the West Coast. SWE, snow depth, and snow pack average temperature represent the state of the snow pack at 06:00 UTC. Snow melt runoff, sublimation and evaporation, and precipitation parameters that describe sources and sinks of snow pack water are integrated for the previous 24 hours, giving daily totals. Note that output for 06:00 UTC is a best estimate of snow pack characteristics. Because SNODAS only updates snow fields once a day, 18 out of 24 time steps in each day's model run do not use observations to update model estimates. Therefore, hourly data from SNODAS is model output only and does not represent the best possible estimate of the snow pack.

Near-Real-Time Data

NSIDC has scripts that run several times a day. If new SNODAS files are found, these scripts will automatically post them to our FTP server. If you need data sooner than the normal time frame that NSIDC uploads files to our FTP site, you can contact NOHRSC, as they distribute the data for operational users.

Quality Assessment

NSIDC has not conducted an assessment of these data. For information, please refer to Barrett (2003), or contact NOHRSC.

3. Data Access and Tools

Data Access

Data are available via FTP.

Note: NSIDC cannot always post data as soon as NOHRSC makes it available. Occasionally one or more files are missing from the NOHRSC output. Generally, files are available from NSIDC within one day of production at NOHRSC. However, users should have no expectation that NSIDC will consistently have all files within one day of production. Occasionally, NSIDC does not receive data; thus, you should check the SNODAS Data Products at NSIDC missing files list to see which files are not available. Users needing files in a timely manner for operational use should contact NOHRSC directly to make arrangements.

Tools

Ingesting SNODAS Data into Image Processing Software

For information on how to ingest SNODAS data into an image processing software such as ENVI, see Appendix B in the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) Products at NSIDC Special Report.

 

4. Data Acquisition and Processing

NOHRSC supplies NSIDC with files that only have the eight variables contained in this data set. No additional processing is done at NSIDC except for the renaming of the file extension. See the reference information on NOHRSC processing.

5. References and Related Publications

Barrett, Andrew. 2003. National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) Products at NSIDC. NSIDC Special Report 11. Boulder, CO USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. 19 pp.

Carroll, T., D. Cline, G. Fall, A. Nilsson, L. Li, and A. Rost. 2001. NOHRSC Operations and the Simulation of Snow Cover Properties for the Conterminous U.S. Proceedings of the 69th Annual Meeting of the Western Snow Conference, pp. 1-14.

Carroll, T. 2005. Overview of the Center's Web Site and Products . National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center, 15 pp.

Jordan, R. 1990. User's guide for USA-CRREL one-dimensional snow temperature model (SNTHERM.89). USA Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), 18 pp.

Related Data Collections

Visit the NOHRSC Web site for additional NOHRSC snow products and tools.

In Colorado, the Bureau of Reclamation and Colorado Water Conservation Board are assessing SNODAS for hydrological forecasting purpose. Visit the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Web site Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) Colorado Data Plots and the Western Water Assessment for more information.

6. Acknowledgements

This data set and documentation were developed with the assistance of NOHRSC Director Thomas Carroll and NOHRSC staff, and NSIDC’s Andrew Barrett. The product team at NSIDC consisted of Lisa Ballagh, Florence Fetterer, Alejandro Machado, and Keri Webster.

Development and distribution of the data set from NSIDC is supported by funding from NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC).

7. Document Information

Glossary

Table 7 lists acronyms used in this document.

Table 7. Acronyms Used in this Document

Acronym	Description
EASE-Grid	Equal Area Scalable Earth
FTP	File Transfer Protocol
NESDIS	National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
NGDC	National Geophysical Data Center
NOAA	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOHRSC	National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
NSIDC	National Snow and Ice Data Center
NWP	Numerical Weather Prediction
RUC2	Rapid Update Cycle 2
SNODAS	SNOw Data Assimilation System
SWE	Snow Water Equivalent
UTC	Universal Time
WGS	World Geodetic System

 

Document Authors

This documentation was written by Keri Webster and Florence Fetterer and is based on the publication National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) Products at NSIDC.

Creation Date

November 2004

Revision Date

27 June 2011: A. Windnagel updated the File and Directory Structure and File Naming Convention sections to describe the FTP site structure. Also removed the Opening FTP .tar.gz Files with WinZip section since the files are not tarred and gzipped the same way anymore.

05 February 2010: A. Windnagel removed all references to the GISMO subsetting interface because it is being decommissioned.

15 January 2010: A. Windnagel added an SSI about the new Beta Advanced Data Search interface.

18 June 2009: A. Windnagel updated the Grid Description section with information on the order of the array.

14 May 2009: A. Windnagel updated the File Naming Convention section that was missing some information, added information on opening the .tar.gz files with WinZip, added information on obtaining near-real-time data, and added a glossary.

07 August 2008: D. Miller updated guide doc with edits from Florence Fetterer and Andy Barrett.

01 April 2008: D. Miller reformatted and reorganized the guide documentation based on comments from User Services (Kara Gergely) to make the guide documentation easier to use. USO was receiving a lot of questions about this data set.

02 February 2007: F. Fetterer made the following changes: Added link to the Bureau of Reclamation and WWA Web sites, added units and product code to table, added information on using GISMO formerly found in the FAQ.

02 February 2006: F. Fetterer added links to a Frequently Asked Questions page authored by L. Ballagh.

22 December 2005: F. Fetterer added text describing the renaming of .grz files at NSIDC. Renaming was instituted in December 2005 for the following reasons: 1) .grz is not a standard data type or file extension, 2) The compression and storage of the files is accomplished by tarring each set and then compressing them using the gzip compression program. This has several recognized filename extensions, but the most prevalent is .tar.gz. Changing the extension to this more recognized format will help alleviate user confusion while at the same time not altering the actual distributed data files contained within the tarred file.

19 December 2005: F. Fetterer added text advising users needing data on an operational basis to contact NOHRSC.

09 May 2005: F. Fetterer added information on subsetting options.

Document URL

http://nsidc.org/data/docs/noaa/g02158_snodas_snow_cover_model/index.html