Abstract:
This data set includes yearly snow melt onset dates over Arctic sea ice derived from brightness temperatures from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS). The introduction of liquid water to snow results in a sharp increase in the emissivity and hence brightness temperature of the ... snowpack. Snow melt onset is defined as the point in time when microwave brightness temperatures increase sharply due to the presence of liquid water in the snowpack. Data span the years 1979 through 2012 and are in a polar stereographic grid at 25 km resolution. Flat binary, 1-byte integer files and GIF images are accessible via FTP. Several value-added products are also available. Value-added data sets include the following for each pixel: mean melt onset date; latest (maximum) melt onset date; earliest (minimum) melt onset date; range of melt onset dates (the difference between maximum and minimum -- an index of variability); and standard deviation of melt onset date (another index of variability). Graphical representations of value-added data are also available.
Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research
Department of Aerospace Engineering
431 UCB
University of Colorado
City:
Boulder
Province or State:
CO
Postal Code:
80309-0431
Country:
USA
Publications/References
Abdalati, W. and K. Steffen. 1997. Snowmelt on the Greenland Ice Sheet as Derived from Passive Microwave Satellite Data. Journal of Climate 10(2):165-175. Abdalati, W. and K. Steffen. 1995. Passive Microwave-defined Snow Melt Regions on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Geophysical Research Letters 22(7):787-790. Abdalati, W., K. Steffen, C. Otto and K. Jezek. 1995. Comparison of brightness temperatures ... from SSM/I Instruments on the DMSP F8 and F11 Satellites for Antarctica and the Greenland Ice Sheet. International Journal of Remote Sensing 16:1223-1229. Anderson, M. 1997. Determination of a Melt Onset Date for Arctic Sea Ice Regions Using Passive Microwave Data. Annals of Glaciology 25:382-387. Anderson, M. 1987. The Onset of Spring Melt in First-year Ice Regions of the Arctic as Determined from Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer Data for 1979 and 1980. Journal of Geophysical Research 92(C12):13,153-13,163. Cavalieri, D., C. Parkinson, P. Gloersen, J. Comiso, and H. J. Zwally. 1999. Deriving Long-term Time Series of Sea Ice Cover from Satellite Passive-microwave Multisensor Data Sets. Journal of Geophysical Research 104(C7):15,803-15,814. Cavalieri, D. 1994. A Microwave Technique for Mapping Thin Sea Ice. Journal of Geophysical Research 99(C6):12,561-12,572. Drobot, S. D. and M. R. Anderson. 2001a. An improved method for determining snowmelt onset dates over Arctic sea ice using scanning multichannel microwave radiometer and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager data. Journal of Geophysical Research 106: 24,033-24,049. Drobot, S. and M. Anderson. 2001b. Comparison of Interannual Snowmelt Onset Dates with Atmospheric Conditions. Annals of Glaciology 33: 79-84. Dubach L. and C. Ng. 1988. NSSDC's Compendium of Meteorological Space Programs, Satellites, and Experiments. Gloersen, P. 1994. Nimbus-7 SMMR Polar Radiances and Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Concentrations. [1979-1987]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Gloersen, P. and F. Barath. 1977. A Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer for Nimbus-G and SeaSat-A. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 2:172-178. Gloersen, P., W. Campbell, D. Cavalieri, J. Comiso, C. Parkinson, and H. J. Zwally. 1992. Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice, 1978-1987: Satellite Passive-microwave Observations and Analysis. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Program. Washington, D.C. Gloersen, P. and L. Hardis. 1978. The Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Experiment, in The Nimbus 7 Users' Guide. C. R. Madrid, editor. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center. Jezek, K., C. Merry, D. Cavalieri, S., Grace, J. Bedner, D. Wilson, and D. Lampkin. 1991. Comparison Between SMMR and SSM/I Passive Microwave Data Collected over the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Byrd Polar Research Center Technical Report No. 91-03, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 62 pp. Kramer, H. 1994. Observation of the Earth and Its Environment - Survey of Missions and Sensors, 2nd Edition. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. Kunzi, K., S. Patil, and H. Rott. 1982. Snow-cover Parameters Derived from Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data. IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing GE-20:57-66. Livingstone, C., K. Singh, and L. Gray. 1987. Seasonal and Regional Variations of Active/Passive Microwave Signatures of Sea Ice. IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing GE-25:159-172. Maslanik, J. and J. Stroeve. 2004, updated 2012. DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures. Version 4. [1988-2011]. Boulder, Colorado USA: NASA DAAC at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Meier, W., F. Fetterer, M. Savoie, S. Mallory, R. Duerr, and J. Stroeve. 2013. NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration. Version 2. [2008-2011]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N55M63M1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 1978. The Nimbus 7 Users' Guide. C.R. Madrid, editor. Goddard Space Flight Center. Snyder, J. P. 1982. Map Projections Used by the U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1532. Stroeve, J., L. Xiaoming, and J. Maslanik. 1998. An Intercomparison of DMSP F11- and F13-derived Sea Ice Products. Remote Sensing of the Environment 64:132-152. Swanson, P. and A. Riley. 1980. The Seasat Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR): Radiometric Calibration Algorithm Development and Performance. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering OE-5:116-124.
Extended Metadata Properties
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Current Version:1
Version Summary:
Updates the data record to span through the 2012 melt season which includes the use of the SSMIS instrument on the DMSP F17 satellite.
The mask melt_landmask_v02_n.bin is no longer being used for v3, thus, the two-pixel buffer surrounding the coastlines has been removed.
Included the use of an annual sea ice extent mask to indicate sea ice locations where a melt onset date is calculated.
Changed the regression coefficients used to convert the F11 brightness temperatures to use ones from the Northern Hemisphere sea ice overlap area of Stroeve et al. (1998).
Parameter values changed from 0 to 255 (inclusive) to 0 to 245 (inclusive).
Trend files are no longer being generated for v3.
The gsfc_25n.msk land/coast mask is used instead of the n3blcmsk.hdf mask.
