NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of the Rutgers Northern Hemisphere 24 km Weekly Snow Cover Extent, September 1980 Onward data set. This data set provides weekly snow cover extent at a 24 km resolution for the Northern Hemisphere from September 1980 in NetCDF format. The time series currently goes to September 2021 but will be updated on an annual basis every September.
The data set is created from a combination of paper and digital snow cover charts. Prior to June 1999, these data were digitized from paper snow charts generated by NOAA analysts and based primarily on the interpretation of visible satellite observations. In the late 1990s, weekly chart production was succeeded by the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). From June 1999 onward, IMS snow output at 24 km resolution is appended to the record.
The paper charts had been previously digitized to a 190 km resolution; but with this data set, the September 1980 through May 1999 charts were digitized to a 24 km resolution. This is the first time these charts have been digitized to this higher resolution.
To learn more and to access these data, visit the data set landing page.
Data Set DOI: https://doi.org/10.7265/zzbm-2w05