MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 4

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Hall, D.K., G. A. Riggs, and V. V. Salomonson

Publication_Date: 20000901

Title: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 4

Edition: 4

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:

Series_Information:

Series_Name:

Issue_Identification:

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Boulder, CO

Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

Other_Citation_Details:

Online_Linkage: http://nsidc.org/data/mod10_l2.html

Description:

Abstract:

MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m (MOD10_L2) contains snow cover and quality assurance (QA) data, latitudes, and longitudes in HDF-EOS format, along with corresponding metadata. Latitude and longitude geolocation fields are at 5 km resolution, while all other fields are at 500 m resolution. Version 4 (V004) has two separate snow cover fields: one incorporating the original cloud mask, and another using a less cloud-conservative mask. MODIS/Terra V004 data extend from 24 February 2000 to Dec 31, 2006. MODIS snow cover data are based on a snow mapping algorithm that employs a Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and other criteria tests. The only data available for Version 4 (V004) is the Golden Month, which is a sample of V004 data covering the time period 29 August 2002 (day of year 241) through 7 October 2002 (day of year 280). The Golden Month is only available by special request by contacting NSIDC User Services. Please note that NSIDC now has a complete series of Version 5 data, which is the highest version number now available and represents the best quality of data.

Purpose:

Not Available

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). 1996. EOS Ground System (EGS) systems and operations concept. Greenbelt, MD: Goddard Space Flight Center. Hall, D.K., A.B. Tait, G.A. Riggs, and V.V. Salomonson. 1998. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) for the MODIS Snow, Lake Ice, and Sea Ice Mapping Algorithms (Version 4.0). Hall, D.K., G.A. Riggs, and V.V. Salomonson. 1995. Development of methods for mapping global snow cover using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Remote Sensing of the Environment 54(2): 127-140. Hall, D.K. and J. Martinec. 1985. Remote Sensing of Ice and Snow. London: Chapman and Hall. Markham, B.L. and J.L. Barker. 1986. Landsat MSS and TM post-calibration dynamic ranges, exoatmospheric reflectances and at-satellite temperatures. EOSAT Technical Notes 1:3-8. MODIS Characterization and Support Team (MCST). 2000. MODIS level 1B product user's guide for level 1B Version 2.3.x Release 2. MCST Document #MCM-PUG-01-U-DNCN. Pearson II, F. 1990. Map projections: theory and applications. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Inc. Riggs, G.A., D.K. Hall, and V.V. Salomonson. January 2006. MODIS snow products user guide for collection 4 data products. Wiscombe, W.J. and S.G. Warren. 1980. A model for the spectral albedo of snow I: pure snow. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 37:2712-2733.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 20000224

Ending_Date: 20061231

Currentness_Reference:Unknown

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180.0

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180.0

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 90.0

South_Bounding_Coordinate: -90.0

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD SCIENCE PARAMETERS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD PLATFORM

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD INSTRUMENT

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: PROJECT

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ANCILLARY KEYWORDS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO TOPIC CATEGORY

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: DATA SET LANGUAGE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > LAKE ICE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW COVER

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > LAKE ICE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > SNOW/ICE > SNOW COVER

Theme_Keyword: TERRA > EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM, TERRA (AM-1)

Theme_Keyword: MODIS > MODERATE-RESOLUTION IMAGING SPECTRORADIOMETER

Theme_Keyword: SPECTRORADIOMETERS

Theme_Keyword: EOS > EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM

Theme_Keyword: EOSDIS > EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM DATA INFORMATION SYSTEM

Theme_Keyword: ESIP > EARTH SCIENCE INFORMATION PARTNERS PROGRAM

Theme_Keyword: Antarctic

Theme_Keyword: Arctic

Theme_Keyword: Climatology

Theme_Keyword: Daac

Theme_Keyword: Ecs

Theme_Keyword: Eosdis

Theme_Keyword: Global Change

Theme_Keyword: Lake Ice

Theme_Keyword: Nasa

Theme_Keyword: Nsidc

Theme_Keyword: Polar

Theme_Keyword: Remote Sensing

Theme_Keyword: Snow

Theme_Keyword: Snow Cover

Theme_Keyword: Snow On Ice

Theme_Keyword: Swath

Theme_Keyword: GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Theme_Keyword: IMAGERY/BASE MAPS/EARTH COVER

Theme_Keyword: ENGLISH

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > AFRICA

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > ASIA

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > EUROPE

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > EASTERN HEMISPHERE

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL LAND

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > SOUTH AMERICA

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND

Temporal:

Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Temporal_Keyword: 5 Min

Access_Constraints: Not Available

Use_Constraints:

Not Available

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: NSIDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Address: CIRES, 449 UCB

Address: University of Colorado

City: Boulder

State_or_Province: CO

Postal_Code: 80309-0449

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-6199

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-2468

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nsidc@nsidc.org

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

Quality indicators for MODIS snow data are represented by AutomaticQualityFlag and ScienceQualityFlag metadata objects and their corresponding explanations, AutomaticQualityFlagExplanation and ScienceQualityFlagExplanation, in the CoreMetadata.0 global attribute, in custom local attributes associated with the snow cover Science Data Set (SDS), and also in the Snow Cover PixelQA data field. These are generated during production or in post-product scientific and quality checks of the data product. The AutomaticQualityFlag is automatically set according to conditions for meeting data criteria in the snow mapping algorithm. In most cases, the flag is set to either Passed or Suspect, and in rare instances, it may be set to Failed. Suspect means that a significant percentage of the data were anomalous and that further analysis should be done to determine the source of anomalies. The AutomaticQualityFlagExplanation contains a brief message explaining the reason for the setting of the AutomaticQualityFlag. The ScienceQualityFlag and the ScienceQualityFlagExplanation maybe updated after production, either after an automated QA program is run or after the data product is inspected by a qualified snow scientist. Content and explanation of this flag are dynamic so it should always be examined if present in the external metadata file. The snow algorithm identifies missing data and reports them in the output product. Certain expected anomalous conditions may exist with the input data such as a few missing lines or unusable data from the MODIS sensor. In these cases, the snow algorithm makes no snow decision for an affected pixel. Summary statistics are calculated for these conditions and reported as Valid EV Obs Band x percent and Saturated EV Obs Band 1 percent local attributes Riggs, Hall, and Salomonson 2003). In addition to these data values, the product contains quality information at the pixel level. The Snow Cover PixelQA data field provides additional information on algorithm results for each pixel within a MODIS scene and is used as a measure of usefulness for snow-cover data. The QA information tells if algorithm results were nominal, abnormal, or if other defined conditions were encountered for a pixel (Riggs, Hall, and Salomonson 2003). For example, intermediate checks for theoretical bounding of reflectance data and the NDSI ratio are made in the algorithm. In theory, reflectance values should lie within the 0-100 percent range, and the NDSI ratio should lie within the -1.0 to +1.0 range. Summary statistics are kept for pixels that exceed these theoretical limits; however, the test for snow is done regardless of violations of these limits. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: MODIS Land Quality Assessment Web site provides updated quality information for each product.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Not Available

Completeness_Report:

Not Available

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Not Available

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 500 m

Longitude_Resolution: 500 m

Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NSIDC_DAAC > NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center

Contact_Person: NSIDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Address: CIRES, 449 UCB

Address: University of Colorado

City: Boulder

State_or_Province: CO

Postal_Code: 80309-0449

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-6199

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-2468

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nsidc@nsidc.org

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NSIDC > National Snow and Ice Data Center

Contact_Person: NSIDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Address: CIRES, 449 UCB

Address: University of Colorado

City: Boulder

State_or_Province: CO

Postal_Code: 80309-0449

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-6199

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +1 (303) 492-2468

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: nsidc@nsidc.org

Resource_Description: MOD10_L2V3, MOD10_L2V5

Resource_Description: MOD10_L2V3, MOD10_L2V5

Distribution_Liability:

Not Available

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: GeoTIFF

Format_Name: HDF-EOS

Transfer_Size: 32.4

Transfer_Size: 32.4

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://nsidc.org

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://nsidc.org/daac/modis/

Access_Instructions:

MODIS Data at NSIDC

Fees: Not Available

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20000901

Metadata_Review_Date: 20120504

Metadata_Future_Review_Date: 20080901

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: GCMD User Support Office

Contact_Organization: NASA Global Change Master Directory

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Not Available

City: Lanham

State_or_Province: MD

Postal_Code: 20706

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: Not Available

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gcmduso@gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time