News |
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This Web page contains current and past MODIS data news. The news is divided up by year. Use the tool bar below to navigate around this Web page.
| 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
2012 [top]
17 July 2012
MODIS Terra Data Outage
Due to a Science Formatter Error on the Terra spacecraft, MODIS data will not be produced for the following time segment: 16 July 2012 (day 198) at 23:00 through 17 July 2012 (day 199) at 01:55.
23 May 2012
MODIS Terra Data Outage
No MODIS Terra data were produced on 11 May 2012 from 13:47-21:56 UTC due to a data outage.
2011 [top]
21 November 2011
MODIS Browse Images Unavailable
Some 12,500 Browse Images from 19 June 2002 to 10 September 2002 are unavailable for the following MODIS products: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m (MOD10_L2) and MODIS/Terra Sea Ice Extent 5-Min L2 Swath 1km (MOD29). NSIDC is working to recover these images and apologizes for any inconvenience.
17 March 2011
NSIDC's Computing Center Shutting Down for Five Days to Become More Green
The National Snow and Ice Data Center, through a grant from the National Science Foundation, is modifying its facility to become one of the most energy-efficient data centers in the United States. As a part of this effort, NSIDC will shut down our computing center from Wednesday, 30 March through Sunday, 3 April to accommodate construction. The NSIDC Web site will be available intermittently during this time, providing data documentation and other information. However, access to all NSIDC data and online services will be unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience the limited access may cause you.
2010 [top]
27 October 2010
New RSS Data Feed Available for AMSR-E and MODIS Products
Data users can now subscribe to receive new AMSR-E and MODIS data via an RSS data feed as soon as they are ingested at NSIDC. Each RSS feed entry includes a direct link to the data and corresponding metadata within the NSIDC FTP site. For more information about the NSIDC data products currently served by the RSS data feed, and to subscribe, please refer to the following product summary pages:
AMSR-E/Aqua L2B Global Swath Ocean
Products derived from Wentz Algorithm
MODIS/Aqua Sea Ice Extent 5-Min L2 Swath 1km, Version 5
The RSS data feed serving these products was developed at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) under the NASA JPL Datacasting project. For more information
about data casting, including feed reader and publisher guides, visit the JPL
Datacasting: Earth Science Meets RSS Web site.
05 October 2010
Power Outage at Goddard Causes MODIS Data Loss
Due to a power outage at the Goddard Space Flight Facility on 22 September 2010, there were satellite data losses for the MODIS/Terra and MODIS/Aqua sea ice and snow products during the following time periods:
- Terra: DOY266 01:10 - DOY266 03:15
- Aqua: DOY265 23:25 - DOY266 00:55.
Attempts to recover the data were unsuccessful.
27 July 2010
Short Data Loss Affects All MODIS/Terra Data Products
On 26 June 2010, day of year 177, the Terra spacecraft experienced a problem that resulted in a data loss of three hours and 17 minutes. Data were lost from 03:08:42z through 06:25:59z. This loss affected all MODIS/Terra data products.
On 30 June 2010, day of year 181, a leap second was added by mistake to all Terra spacecraft data. The spacecraft was one second ahead of the actual ground time. This resulted in geolocation errors in all MODIS/Terra data products over a 24 hour period. Currently no data are available for this day. Efforts are being made to rectify the error and provide day of year 181 data in the future.
More information about data outages can be found at the MODIS/Terra Data Outages Web Site.
2009 [top]
08 July 2009
MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m Grid (MOD10A1) Version 4 Snow Data Product Removed from NSIDC's Archive
On 17 July 2009, the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m Grid (MOD10A1) Version 4 (V004) snow data product will be removed from NSIDC's archive. NSIDC will retain a small amount of MODIS V004 data from this data set for use in comparisons with other data versions. This is referred to as the Golden Month. The Golden Month covers the time period 29 August 2002 (day of year 241) through 7 October 2002 (day of year 280).
For access to the V004 Golden Month data, contact NSIDC User Services.
02 June 2009
Version 4 MODIS Snow and Sea Ice Data Products Have Been Removed from NSIDC's Archive
As of 1 June 2009, the following Version 4 MODIS snow and sea ice data products have been removed from NSIDC's archive:
Version 4 Snow Products:
MOD10L2: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m
MYD10L2: MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m
MOD10A2: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-day L3 Global 500m Grid
MYD10A2: MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 500m Grid
Version 4 Sea Ice Product:
MYD29: MODIS/Aqua Sea Ice Extent 5-Min L2 Swath 1km
NSIDC will retain a small amount of MODIS Version 4 data from each data set for use in comparisons with other data versions. This is referred to as a golden month. The golden month covers the time period 29 August 2002 (day of year 241) through 7 October 2002 (day of year 280).
For access to the Version 4 golden month data, contact NSIDC User Services. Version 5 of the above data products will remain available.
15 May 2009
Missing Granules for MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG Data Product (MOD10CM)
Due to insufficient data received, the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, Version 5 (MOD10CM) data product is missing the following granules:
June 2001
March 2002
December 2003.
17 April 2009
Data Unavailable From 20 April 2009 Through 23 April 2009
Due to system maintenance from Monday, 20 April 2009 through Thursday, 23 April 2009, NSIDC will not receive MODIS data from our data provider. Once the maintenance period has passed, NSIDC will ingest and archive the missing MODIS data to ensure continual temporal coverage.
24 February 2009
Distribution of Data on Hard Media No Longer Available After 11 March 2009
Beginning 11 March 2009, NSIDC will no longer offer distribution of MODIS data on hard media, such as CD-ROM, DVD, and DLT. Data will only be available via FTP Pull or FTP Push.
For future orders, if you have trouble accessing data via FTP, please contact NSIDC's User Services Office for data access options.
23 January 2009
Production of MODIS Terra and Aqua Snow and Sea Ice Products Have Resumed
Production of MODIS Terra and Aqua snow and sea ice products have resumed, and both Terra and Aqua products are almost caught up.
15 January 2009
Production of MODIS Terra and Aqua Snow and Sea Ice Products was Stopped
Due to a hardware failure on 29 December 2008, production of MODIS Terra and Aqua snow and sea ice products have been suspended indefinitely. On 08 January 2009, production of Terra snow and sea ice products resumed and is nearly caught up. Production of Aqua snow and sea ice products have not resumed. The problem is being worked, and we hope for production to resume in the near future.
2008 [top]
13 November 2008
Incorrect Geolocation Information in MODIS Data
NSIDC would like to inform you that due to intermittent satellite maneuvers throughout the lifetime of Terra and Aqua, some geolocation information in MODIS data is incorrect. Data with erroneous geolocation information are being reprocessed to eliminate data that do not meet specifications. Reprocessing of all affected data is expected to be complete in Spring of 2009.
For information regarding the dates and times of the maneuvers with the affected data, visit the MODIS Land Quality Assessment Web site.
2007 [top]
29 November 2007
Erroneous MODIS Version 005 Snow Cover Data
The MODIS/Terra and MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG data products (MOD10C1.v005 and MYD10C1.v005) and the Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG data products (MOD10C2.v005 and MYD10C2.v005) were processed with corrupted tile indices as a result of incorrect static input files. Static input files determine and map each tile pixel to the corresponding 0.05-degree pixel in the CMG lat-lon grid.
Reprocessing of the erroneous data for 2003 and 2004 is complete. NSIDC expects to receive 2007 reprocessed data by 07 December 2007. For more detailed information about the errors, please visit the MODIS Land Science Data Discipline Team Web site.
Affected Dates for Terra Product |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Julian Day | Through | Year | Julian Day |
| 2003 | 065 |
through | 2003 | 137 |
| 2004 | 192 |
through | 2004 | 263 |
| 2007 | 001 |
through | 2007 | 307 |
Affected Dates for Aqua Product |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Julian Day | Through | Year | Julian Day |
| 2003 | 065 |
through | 2003 | 137 |
| 2004 | 192 |
through | 2007 | 260 |
| 2007 | 001 |
through | 2007 | 307 |
20 September 2007
Complete Time Series Now Available for MOD10A2 and MOD10C2 Version 4 Data
The complete times series of Version 4 data for the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-day L3 Global 500m Grid (MOD10A2) product and the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG (MOD10C2) product are now available from the Data Pool and will remain available indefinitely. The time series extends from Feb 2000 through Dec 2006.
17 - 18 January 2007
The MODIS Land Collection 5 Data Workshop
As a courtesy to the MODIS Land Science Team, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is sending you this announcement for an informational and interactive workshop on MODIS Land Products. The MODIS Land Collection 5 Data Workshop will be held January 17-18 at the University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center. The workshop is intended to brief MODIS users on recent changes to the Land Products. Topics to be addressed include:
- An in-depth look at the Version 5, also known as Collection 5, changes to the MODIS Land products, MODAPS production status, and QA status.
- An opportunity for feedback from the user community on MODIS Land Products, and access and discussion of future land product plans.
- A discussion of the recently funded NASA project to develop consistent long term data records from AVHRR to MODIS.
Click here for Registration and a Preliminary Agenda for this workshop. If you have questions or would like more information please contact Regina Oglesby.
16 January 2007
MOD10C1 V004 Data Now Available Through the Data Pool
The complete time series of MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V004 (MOD10C1 V004) data is now available through the online Data Pool and will remain there indefinitely.
12 January 2007
Release of Aqua Version 5 Reprocessed Snow and Sea Ice Products
NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of Version 5 (V005) reprocessed MODIS/Aqua snow and sea ice products, which contain several improvements over the previous versions. Such as:
- Monthly snow products are available in a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format
- Fractional snow cover was added to MYD10_L2 and MYD10A1 products
- Browse images are available for all products
- All products use HDF compression making the file size much smaller
- Sea Ice by Ice Surface Temperature (IST) and combined sea ice fields were removed.
MODIS/Aqua V005 forward data processing began in January 2007. Forward processed data for the MODIS/Aqua sea ice products begin with January 2007. Reprocessing of existing MODIS/Aqua V005 data is expected to start in mid-2007. Reprocessing of all V005 data is expected to take two years. For more information regarding the reprocessing campaign, please see the MODIS Aqua Version 5 Snow and Sea Ice Products Reprocessing Plan.
V005 products are available from the EDG and SNOWI ordering interfaces, and on-line from the Data Pool. You can access these sites from the MODIS Data at NSIDC: Ordering MODIS Products from NSIDC Web site. Approximately one month of data is ingested per week into the online Data Pool. Please see the MODIS Data at NSIDC: MODIS Product Versions Web page for more information regarding data availability.
If you have any questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.
18 December 2006
Release of Terra Version 5 Reprocessed Snow Products
NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of Version 5 (V005) reprocessed MODIS/Terra snow products, which contain several improvements over the previous versions. Such as:
- Monthly snow products are available in a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format
- Fractional snow cover was added to MOD10_L2 and MOD10A1 products
- Browse images are available for all products
- All products use HDF compression making the file size much smaller.
Reprocessing of V005 for MODIS Terra data began 08 September 2006. Reprocessed data for the MODIS/Terra snow products begin with September 2000 because of a problem found after reprocessing began. Thus, data between 24 February 2000 and September 2000 will need to be regenerated before it is made available to users. We currently expect this to occur in mid-2007 when additional resources become available. MODIS Terra V005 forward data processing is expected to start in mid-2007. Reprocessing of all V005 data for both Terra and Aqua is expected to take two years. For more information regarding the reprocessing campaign, please see the MODIS Terra Version 5 Snow Products Reprocessing Plan.
V005 products are available from the EDG and SNOWI ordering interfaces, and on-line from the Data Pool. You can access these sites from the MODIS Data at NSIDC: Ordering MODIS Products from NSIDC Web site. Approximately one month of data is ingested per week into the online Data Pool. Please see the MODIS Data at NSIDC: MODIS Product Versions Web page for more information regarding data availability.
If you have any questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.
2006 [top]
08 December 2006
Release of Terra Version 5 Reprocessed Sea Ice Products
NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of Version 5 (V005) reprocessed MODIS/Terra sea ice products, which contain several improvements over the previous versions. For example, Sea Ice by Ice Surface Temperature (IST) and combined sea ice fields were removed, browse images are now available, and all V005 products use HDF compression making the file size much smaller.
Reprocessing of V005 for MODIS Terra data began 08 September 2006. Reprocessed data for the MODIS/Terra sea ice products begin with February 2000. MODIS Terra V005 forward data processing is expected to start in mid-2007. Reprocessing of all V005 data for both Terra and Aqua is expected to take two years. For more information regarding the reprocessing campaign, please see the MODIS Terra Version 5 Sea Ice Products Reprocessing Plan.
V005 products are available from the EDG and SNOWI ordering interfaces, and on-line from the Data Pool. You can access these sites from the MODIS Data at NSIDC: Ordering MODIS Products from NSIDC Web site. Approximately one month of data is ingested per week into the online Data Pool. Please see the MODIS Data at NSIDC: MODIS Product Versions Web page for more information regarding data availability.
If you have any questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.
2005 [top]
19 May 2005
Missing Level-3 Gridded Snow Products Being Reprocessed
Following an interruption in producing Terra and Aqua surface reflectance products and all downstream products in April (see the 05 May 2005 news item below), MODIS/Terra Land production resumed on 17 May using NCEP ozone input to surface reflectance. A 28-day gap in Level-3 gridded snow products (from 18 April to 15 May) is currently being reprocessed; these data should be fully available in mid-July. MODIS/Aqua Land production is expected to resume by 20 May, and its data gap will be processed in July.
05 May 2005
Level-3 Gridded Snow Products Unavailable Since 24 April 2005
NOAA's daily ozone product, which is input to creating the MODIS surface reflectance product, is unavailable. This interrupted forward production of the Terra and Aqua surface reflectance product and all downstream products, including MODIS Level-3 snow products. Production should resume on approximately 11 May, which means the forward stream would be 22 days behind real time. It will take approximately 45 days for the MODIS science team to fill the gap.
Level-2 snow products and Level-3 sea ice products were not affected.
2004 [top]
23 September 2004
Subscriptions Available as an Ordering Option
Users can now request subscriptions for AMSR-E, ICESat/GLAS, MODIS, and NISE data. This option is convenient if you require new data for a specific region on a daily or other repeating basis, but you do not want to actively search and order data files each time. Based on your preference, NSIDC will either "push" new data to your local server via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or will stage data on our FTP site for you to pull. Please see Data Subscription Requests for more information.
16 - 17 November 2004
Announcement: Workshop on EOS Snow and Ice Products
The First Workshop on Earth Observing System (EOS) Snow and Ice Products will be held near Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on 16-17 November 2004. The intent of the workshop is to bring together current and potential users of EOS snow and ice standard products from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - EOS (AMSR-E), Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensors. The themes of the workshop center on the snow and ice products, including validation results; integration of EOS snow and ice products into models; production of climate data records; and the discussion of improvements to data access and availability. Presentations by data producers will be made, and demonstrations dealing with the acquisition and use of the products will be provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the Goddard Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). All users of EOS data are invited to present posters on their snow- and ice-related results. There will be ample time during the workshop for discussions relative to the workshop themes. If interested, please contact Dorothy Hall at NASA/GSFC or Marilyn Kaminski at NSIDC.
05 April 2004
MODIS/Terra Version 3 Data No Longer Available
Starting the week of 05 April 2004, MODIS/Terra Version 3 (V003) data will no longer be available. A sample of data from 29 August 2002 (day 241) through 07 October 2002 (day 280), however, will remain permanently to allow users to correlate between Versions 3 and 4. MODIS/Terra and MODIS/Aqua Version 4 (V004) data are still available for distribution.
13 February 2004
MODIS/Aqua Products Released
New sea ice and snow products from MODIS/Aqua are available for distribution. An improved sea ice algorithm uses MODIS band 7 instead of band 6 to distinguish sea ice and snow from clouds. The use of band 7 in Version 4 Aqua products removes striping problems previously evident from defective band 6 detectors. This and other algorithm refinements result in improved quality in sea ice and snow extent maps.
Following is a list of available MODIS/Aqua products:
See Ordering MODIS Products from NSIDC for ordering options.
2003 [top]
20 November 2003
MODIS Global 4 km Sea Ice Data Available
The MODIS/Terra Sea Ice Extent and IST Daily L3 Global 4km EASE-Grid Day product contains sea ice extent by reflectance and ice surface temperature (IST) for the Arctic and Antarctic in the NSIDC EASE-Grid at approximately 4 km gridded resolution. Data begin 15 September 2003 and continue through present.
5 - 6 September 2003
SWGD Data Access/Usability Workshop
The Earth Observing System (EOS) Science Working Group on Data (SWGD) is announcing a workshop scheduled for 5-6 November 2003, in Greenbelt, MD, USA. This workshop will include panel and breakout discussions by users describing their objectives, type of data they need, access to data, and barriers encountered and overcome. Please visit the SWGD's workshop announcement for more information.
25 September 2003
Snow Albedo Product Available in MOD10A1
Version 4 (V004) data granules of MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m Grid (MOD10A1) after 14 September 2003 include a Snow Albedo data array with a 'beta' status. The Snow Albedo array is included in MOD10A1 granules as a separate HDF-EOS field. This early-release albedo product allows users to gain familiarity with data formats and parameters. It is minimally validated and may still contain significant errors. This product is not appropriate as the basis for quantitative scientific publications.
Browse images for MOD10A1 granules from 14 September 2003 forward can now be viewed when searching for data in the EOS Data Gateway and in the NSIDC Data Pool.
11 August 2003
Cloud Cover Anomaly Detected in MODIS Snow and Sea Ice Products
An anomaly occurred in the processing of the MOD35 and MYD35 cloud products, which are used in the creation of MODIS snow and sea ice products, causing data appearing to have more cloud cover than what actually existed. See MODIS Cloud Cover Anomaly for affected dates.
26 June 2003
Browse Images Available for MOD10_L2 and MYD10_L2
Users now have the option to view browse versions of MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m (MYD10_L2) and MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m (MOD10_L2) data granules, when searching and ordering MODIS data via the EOS Data Gateway (EDG). The browse images are available under the "Image Quicklook" column in the resulting granules list following a search. Browse images for other products will be available in the near future.
28 May 2003
Faster Access via the Data Pool
NSIDC is pleased to announce the availability of the Data Pool at the NSIDC DAAC. The Data Pool was designed to streamline user access to EOS data by providing FTP access to recently-produced data. It uses a simple web search interface to allow users to quickly locate data of interest and then retrieve them by FTP from a large disk cache. The interface also allows users to view most browse images and metadata directly in their web browser. Currently, the Data Pool contains the most recent 35 days of MODIS snow and sea ice data. Access to products not in the Data Pool will still be available through the EOS Data Gateway (EDG).
23 May 2003
Release of Aqua Level-2 MODIS Snow and Sea Ice Products
NSIDC is pleased to announce the availability of MODIS snow and sea ice products from the Aqua satellite, launched in May 2002. Only Level-2 products (MYD10_L2 and MYD29) are available at this time. The algorithms that generate cloud masks for these products use MODIS band 7 (2.1 µm), since band 6 (1.6 µm) has non-functional detectors that cause striping in snow and sea ice products.
MYD10_L2 and MYD29 are currently "provisional," meaning that the data are partially validated with incremental improvements still occurring. These are early science validated products and are useful for exploratory and process scientific studies. Quality may not be optimal since validation and quality assurance are ongoing. Users are urged to review product quality summaries before publication of results.
Level-3 gridded snow and sea ice products from Aqua will be available in the near future.
14 February 2003
Version 4 Sea Ice Data Available
MODIS Version 4 (V004) sea ice data are available to the public starting this week. Forward processing of sea ice and snow products started with data acquired on 1 January 2003. Reprocessing began with data acquired on 24 February 2000 (day 055) and will move forward to reprocess the data to 31 December 2002. NSIDC is continuing to document the differences in the V004 algorithm for sea ice products. More information will be available on this site soon.
01 January 2003
Version 4 Snow Data Available
The NSIDC DAAC, in collaboration with the MODIS Land Science Team, is pleased to announce the availability of Version 4 (V004) MODIS/Terra Snow Cover products. Version 4 processing will generate a consistent data collection from March 2000 to the present. Version 004 represents an overall improvement to the suite of snow products, and also includes product-specific enhancements.
Two processing streams are being run with the V004 algorithms--one for forward processing and one for reprocessing. Forward processing started with data acquired on 1 January 2003. Reprocessing began with data acquired on 24 February 2000 (day 055) and will move forward to reprocess the data to 31 December 2002.
Version 003 (V003) granules will be available for at least six months after they have been reprocessed to the V004 algorithm. For more information on versions and their temporal coverage, please see Terra/MODIS Product Versions.
Version 004 Sea Ice products should be available in the near future.
2002 [top]
15 October 2002
Climate Modeling Grid Browse Images Available
NSIDC is now processing daily reduced-resolution JPEG browse images of global snow cover in a climate modeling grid. The smaller file size of these images allows users to browse data and identify regions of interest. The images are organized by date, making it easy to find data for a particular day or time series. The earliest date of availability is 15 July 2002. New images are added daily; images from previous dates will be added over time. There is no direct link from the reduced-resolution images to the full-resolution CMG data product. Full-resolution data in HDF-EOS format are available through the EOS Data Gateway.
05 September 2002
MODIS Version 4 Data Available Soon
Beginning no later than 29 November 2002, MODIS Version 4 (V004) data will be available. The improved algorithm will implement the following:
Addition of a liberal cloud mask for the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m data set. The original conservative cloud mask product is still provided.
Fractional snow cover ranging from 0 - 100% for the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG data set. Currently, fractional snow cover ranges from 40 - 100%.
Threshold change from 277 K to 281 K for the sea ice thermal mask
Correct dimensions in structural metadata (StructMetadata.0) for MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG files from 24 July 2002 onward
V003 data from March 2000 onward will be reprocessed to V004 data at the same time that forward processing of V004 data begins. NSIDC plans to eventually delete all V001 granules that have been reprocessed into higher versions.
04 May 2002
Aqua Satellite Launches
NASA's Aqua satellite successfully launched on 4 May 2002. The Aqua mission will collect information about the Earth's water cycle. Snow cover, sea ice extent and temperature, and snow and sea ice albedo data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument will be available from NSIDC in late summer 2002. Visit NASA's Aqua Web site for more information.
08 April 2002
MODIS Data Confirm Warm, Dry U.S. Winter
New maps of land surface temperature and snow cover produced by MODIS show this year's winter was warmer than last year's, and the snow line stayed farther north than normal. Read more about this story at the NASA Earth Observatory Web site.
19 March 2002
Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses
Recent MODIS visible satellite imagery analyzed at NSIDC revealed that the northern section of the Larsen B ice shelf has completely shattered and separated from the continent. Read more about the Larsen B Ice Shelf
8 March 2002
Daily and 8-Day Snow Cover Products Available in Climate Modeling Grid
NSIDC released two MODIS snow cover products in a climate modeling grid (CMG):
- MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG
- MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG
These products consist of 3600 pixel by 7200 pixel global arrays of snow cover at 0.05 degree resolution. See Ordering MODIS Products from NSIDC for ordering instructions or the MODIS snow product documentation for more information about the data.
25 February 2002
Aqua Launch Update
The Aqua satellite arrived safely at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and is tentatively scheduled to launch at 2:55 am on 18 April 2002 aboard a Delta II launch vehicle. Aqua will contain a second-generation MODIS instrument to study seasonal changes in atmospheric and land properties. See the news release on the Aqua Web site for more information.
02 February 2002
Terra Measures an Early Increase Snow in U.S. During 2001/2002 Winter
"Composite data from NASA's Terra satellite show that this winter brought more snow cover in the early part of the season than average," Dorothy Hall of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said. Results from MODIS clearly observed more snow cover in the Midwestern and western United States in November and December. Read more about this story at the NASA Earth Observatory Web site.
2001 [top]
20 July 2001
New Version of MODIS Snow and Ice Products Available
A new version of the snow and ice products from MODIS is being archived at NSIDC. The MODIS Version 3 (V003) collection of snow cover and sea ice data is from the consistent year processing (CYP) project. The MODIS Land Discipline Group (MODLAND) intends to create a full year of V003 data by using stable algorithms to simultaneously process data from 22 June 2001 forward and reprocess data from 29 October 2000 up to the 22 June 2001 date, when the previous version (V001) ends. These consistent year data sets should be completed by the end of 2001.
The MODIS snow and sea ice algorithms in the CYP project are not scientifically different from those in the original collection (V001). Revisions in the MODIS cloud mask algorithm (MOD35_L2), used to mask cloud in the snow and sea ice algorithms, improved the quality of the cloud mask. A notable improvement was the elimination of scattered false cloud detection over some snow-covered land areas.
Please be aware that although V003 will eventually replace V001, both will appear on the EOS Data Gateway (EDG) for at least six months following V003 production of any data granule.
Because the currently available products are provisional, users are encouraged to refer to the MODIS Quality Documentation web site for updated information about known problems for specific data sets. The MODIS Instrument Science Team and the NSIDC DAAC alert users that incremental product improvements are still occurring, and scientific claims based solely on the validity of MODIS Land products are discouraged.
