Visualization Aids

This Web page contains links to various visualization aids created by NSIDC that work with MODIS data.

• CMG Browse
  This Web page provides quick access to reduced-resolution JPEG images of only Terra and Aqua daily global snow cover in a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format. The smaller file size of these images allows users to browse data and identify regions of interest easier and faster.


• View NSIDC Data on Virtual Globes: Google Earth
  NSIDC developed a new .kml file providing monthly average snow cover, each month for one year. The snow cover data are derived from the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG (MOD10CM) data set. Each year of monthly MODIS snow cover is in a separate file; plus, one file includes the most recent rolling 12 months of data. Data are available from 2000 to the most recent year. Coverage is global. The monthly snow cover images can be animated, using the Google Earth time tool. 


• MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA)
  MOA provides a cloud-free view of the ice sheet, ice shelves, and land surfaces at a grid scale of 125 m and an estimated resolution of 150 m. All land areas south of 60°S that are larger than a few hundred meters are included in the mosaic. Also included are several persistent fast ice areas and grounded icebergs. MOA consists of two MODIS-derived image data sets: a digitally smoothed red-light image, which was compiled using Band 1; and a snow-grain-size image, which was compiled using the normalized difference of calibrated data from Band 1 and Band 2 data.