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Earth Observing Laboratory
Field Data Archive

Global Seasonal Snow Classification System

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Summary

The data file defines a global seasonal snow classification system. Based on the physical properties of the snow (depth, density, thermal conductivity, number of layers, degree of wetting, etc.), the world's seasonal snow covers were divided into six classes, plus classes for water and ice fields. Each class was defined by its physical properties, then empirically related to climate using three variables (precipitation, wind, and air temperature). A vegetation proxy was used for wind data: tall vegetation equals low wind, short vegetation equals high wind.

The snow classification data are formatted into an array of integers, each value representing a 0.5-degree latitude by 0.5-degree longitude cell. The data set was developed and tested for the Northern Hemisphere. Results for the Southern Hemisphere are untested and have not been evaluated. The Southern Hemisphere suffers from a reduced density of meteorological data which may well have influenced the quality of the snow classification in that area. Also note that much of Antarctica is inappropriately defined as water (the vegetation data set did not extend that far south). A 0.5- x 0.5-degree land-sea mask could be used to set the Antarctica region to the ice classification if this region is of interest.

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has created a land/ocean mask from the original (updated) Global Ecosystem map (see Related links) used in the derivation of the snow classification. The mask may be used to set the land mass of Antarctica to ice, as described above, altering the data set as submitted.

Data access

Additional information

Identifier
Versions
  • 1.0 (2009-04-29)
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Related projects
Spatial Type multiple
Language English
ISO Topic Categories
  • climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
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Instruments
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Documentation
Related links

Temporal coverage

Begin datetime 1993-07-19 00:00:00
End datetime 1993-08-16 23:59:59

Spatial coverage


Map data from IBCSO, IBCAO, and Global Topography.

Maximum (North) Latitude: 90.00, Minimum (South) Latitude: -90.00
Minimum (West) Longitude: -180.00, Maximum (East) Longitude: 180.00

Primary point of contact information

Matthew Sturm <msturm@crrel.usace.army.mil>

Additional contact information

Citation

Sturm, M., et al. 2009. Global Seasonal Snow Classification System. Version 1.0. UCAR/NCAR - Earth Observing Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.5065/D69G5JX5. Accessed 06 Dec 2024.

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NSF

This material is based upon work supported by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, a major facility sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.