Project Description

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and NASA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) snow-cover products are snow-covered area maps that provide swath-based and daily maps of the Earth's land areas. Both MODIS and VIIRS sea ice products are also available for the areas of the Earth's oceans that are subject to ice cover, providing ice-surface temperature (IST) from MODIS and VIIRS, and sea ice concentration (from VIIRS).

The MODIS is a 36-channel visible to thermal-infrared sensor that was first launched as part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra payload on 18 December 1999, with spatial resolutions varying from 250 m to 1 km. A second, nearly identical MODIS sensor, was launched as part of the payload on the Aqua satellite on 4 May 2002.

The Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite was launched on 28 October 2011 with the 22-channel VIIRS on board. Five of the VIIRS channels are high-resolution image bands or I-bands (375 m), and sixteen are moderate-resolution bands or M-bands (775 m). VIIRS also hosts a panchromatic Day/Night band (DNB). SNPP serves as a bridge between the Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites, including the Terra and Aqua, and the next-generation NASA-NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS).

Data products developed from the MODIS and VIIRS sensors are designed to measure land, ocean and atmosphere parameters to improve our understanding of key Earth processes and global climate change.

The MODIS and VIIRS snow and ice products are archived at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, CO.

Aqua MODIS Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI)

Aqua MODIS Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) map of Lake Michigan and snow cover in part of the state of Michigan acquired on 11 March 2015.

Terra MODIS cloud-gap-filled (CGF) MOD10A1F NDSI snow map

Terra MODIS cloud-gap-filled (CGF) MOD10A1F NDSI snow map of the western United States acquired on 19 March 2012.

Interface Data Processing System (IDPS) VIIRS IST map

Interface Data Processing System (IDPS) VIIRS IST map -- Northern Hemisphere, March 17, 2013. Cloud mask has not been applied. By D. Baldwin, U. of Colorado, Boulder. From S-NPP VIIRS Ice Surface Temperature Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document.

Further Reading