Global Seasonal Snow Classification System https://data.eol.ucar.edu/dataset/106.ARCSS045 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. Identifiers * Local archive identifier: 106.ARCSS045 * doi:10.5065/D69G5JX5 https://doi.org/10.5065/D69G5JX5 Versions 1.0 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 23 Apr 2024. Additional citation styles can be generated by entering the DOI at CrossCite (https://citation.crosscite.org/). Acknowledgement In addition to the citation reference and any other acknowledgements, please acknowledge NCAR/EOL in your publications with text such as: Data provided by NCAR/EOL under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation. https://data.eol.ucar.edu/ Related projects * ARCSS: NSF Arctic System Science https://data.eol.ucar.edu/project/ARCSS Additional information * Spatial Type: multiple * Language: English ISO Topic Categories * climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere Categories * Arctic * Models/Analyses * Snow and Land Ice Platforms * Models/Analyses Instruments * Computer GCMD Science Keywords * EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW COVER Documentation * sclass.txt [4 KiB] https://data.eol.ucar.edu/file/download/41A984E52CA/sclass.txt Related links * homepage: ARCSS EOL Webpage https://www.eol.ucar.edu/field_projects/arcss * download: NSF Arctic Data Center https://doi.org/10.5065/D69G5JX5 * info: ARCSS Data Policy https://data.eol.ucar.edu/arctic_projects/arcss/Data_Policy.html Temporal coverage * Begin datetime: 1993-07-19 00:00:00 * End datetime: 1993-08-16 23:59:59 Spatial coverage * Maximum (North) Latitude: 90.00 * Minimum (South) Latitude: -90.00 * Minimum (West) Longitude: -180.00 * Maximum (East) Longitude: 180.00 Primary contact information * pointOfContact: Matthew Sturm https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/336 Additional contact information * author: Matthew Sturm https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/336 * author: Jon Holmgren https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/1249 * author: Glen E. Liston https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/780 * originator: Matthew Sturm https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/336 * principalInvestigator: Matthew Sturm https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/336 * principalInvestigator: Glen E. Liston https://data.eol.ucar.edu/contact/show/780 Alternate metadata formats * DataCite: https://data.eol.ucar.edu/dataset/106.ARCSS045?format=datacite * ISO/TC 211: https://data.eol.ucar.edu/dataset/106.ARCSS045?format=isotc211