Snow Melt Onset Over Arctic Sea Ice from SMMR and SSM/I Brightness Temperatures

Data Contributors DROBOT, SHELDON ANDERSON, MARK Parameters SEA ICE > SNOW MELT Instruments SMMR : SCANNING MULTICHANNEL MICROWAVE RADIOMETER SSM/I : SPECIAL SENSOR MICROWAVE/IMAGER

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Yearly snow melt onset dates over Arctic sea ice are derived from Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures. The introduction of liquid water to snow results in a sharp increase in the emissivity and hence brightness temperature of the snowpack. Snow melt onset is defined as the point in time when microwave brightness temperatures increase sharply due to the presence of liquid water in the snowpack.

Data cover the years 1979 through 2007, and are in a polar stereographic grid at 25 km resolution. Tab-delimited ASCII files and GIF images are accessible via FTP. Several value-added products are also available.

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Data Citation

The following example shows how to cite the use of this data set in a publication. For more information, see our Use and Copyright Web page.

S. Drobot and M. Anderson. 2001. Snow Melt Onset Over Arctic Sea Ice from SMMR and SSM/I Brightness Temperatures. [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

See Also

• Sea Ice Data at NSIDC
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