MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 6

Data set id:

MOD10_L2

DOI: 10.5067/MODIS/MOD10_L2.006

Data Citation and Acknowledgment
As a condition of using these data, you must cite the use of this data set. Such a practice gives credit to data set producers and advances principles of transparency and reproducibility.

Hall, D. K. & Riggs, G. A. (2016). MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m. (MOD10_L2, Version 6). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD10_L2.006. [describe subset used if applicable]. Date Accessed 12-15-2024.

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There is a more recent version of these data.
Version Summary

Changes for Version 6 include:

Fractional Snow Cover has been replaced by Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) snow cover. Fractional Snow Cover is no longer calculated;

The binary Snow-Covered Area (SCA) map has been discontinued;

Data screens designed to reduce snow detection errors have been revised and several new screens have been added;

Data screen results, including snow detection reversals and detections with increased uncertainty, are provided in a new QA bit flag;

Basic pixel-level QA uses new criteria to indicate the overall quality of algorithm result.

Overview

This data set reports the location of snow cover based on the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and a series of screens designed to alleviate errors and flag uncertain snow cover detections. The NDSI is derived from radiance data acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Terra satellite. As of August 2023, this data set is retired and no longer available for download. We recommend using MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 61 as an alternative.

Parameter(s):

SNOW COVER

Platform(s):

Terra

Sensor(s):

MODIS

Data Format(s):

HDF-EOS2

Temporal Coverage:

24 February 2000 to 17 February 2023

Temporal Resolution:

5 minute

Spatial Resolution:

500 m

500 m

Spatial Coverage:

N:

90

S:

-90

E:

180

W:

-180

Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.

View Metadata Record

Data Access & Tools

This data set has been retired. There is a more recent version of these data.

Documentation

User Guide

MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 6 User Guide

Help Articles

General Questions & FAQs

Can I merge different MODIS collections?

For the snow cover and sea ice products, users can use MODIS Collections 6 and 6.1 together.

Data products from VIIRS are created to be similar to MODIS data products to ensure the continuity needed for the development of snow and sea ice climate records beyond the life expectancy of MODIS. The temporal resolution and spatial extent are identical in MODIS and VIIRS.

Missing and delayed MODIS data

The lag time between observations and availability of MODIS products is only a few days. Lag time may be extended due to satellite maneuvers and extra quality assurance required for the geolocation data after the maneuver.

This short article describes the customization services available for ICESat-2 data using Earthdata Search

The Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) snow cover is an index that is related to the presence of snow in a pixel and is a more accurate description of snow detection as compared to Fractional Snow Cover (FSC). Snow typically has very high visible (VIS) reflectance and very low reflectan

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