Name: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, Version 6
Creator: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Keywords: SNOW COVER

MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, Version 6

Data set id:

MOD10C2

DOI: 10.5067/MODIS/MOD10C2.006

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 8-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG. (MOD10C2, Version 6). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD10C2.006. [describe subset used if applicable]. Date Accessed 09-24-2025.

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

Changes for Version 6 include:

Fractional Snow Cover (FSC) previously used as input to this data set has been replaced by Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) snow cover;

The Eight_Day_CMG_Confidence_Index variable has been replaced with Eight_Day_CMG_Clear_Index.

Overview

This data set reports the maximum percentage of snow-covered land during an eight-day period in 0.05 degree (approx. 5 km) resolution Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) cells. Percentages are computed from snow cover observations in the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 500m Grid (MOD10A2) data set. Persistent cloud cover is also reported. As of August 2023, this data set is retired and no longer available for download. We recommend using MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, 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:

8 day

Spatial Resolution:

0.05 deg

0.05 deg

Spatial Reference System(s):

Not Specified

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 8-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, 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.

This article covers frequently asked questions about the NASA NSIDC DAAC's Earthdata cloud migration project and what it means to data users.

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.

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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NASA Earthdata Cloud Data Access Guide

The NASA Earthdata Cloud is the NASA cloud-based archive of Earth observations. It is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Learn how to find and access NSIDC DAAC data directly in the cloud.

Programmatic Data Access Guide

All data from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is directly accessible through our HTTPS file system using Wget or curl. This article provides basic command line instructions for accessing data using this method.

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