MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) Image Map
Documentation Access Data Project Web Site Access Map Viewer Get Web Map Service (WMS) Get Web Coverage Service (WCS) 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.
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