National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Product User Guide PI - George Riggs (SSAI GSFC)
Product ATBD Co-I: Dorothy HALL (NASA GSFC)

VIIRS Snow Cover Product

The NASA Suomi-NPP VIIRS snow cover algorithm was adapted from the MODIS Collection 6 snow cover algorithm. The snow cover algorithm uses the Normalized Snow Difference Index (NDSI) to detect snow cover. The algorithm theory and performance are well understood and have been demonstrated from evaluation and validation of the MODIS snow cover product.

The NASA VIIRS snow cover algorithms and data products in C1 have been significantly revised and data content has been increased compared to the original NOAA-Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS) snow cover products that were developed based on the MODIS Collection 5 (C5) snow cover algorithms.

The NASA VIIRS sequence of snow cover products, from the Level-2 swath product VNP10, to the daily gridded tile product VNP10A1 is similar to the MODIS sequence of products. The VIIRS swath and Level 3 products are produced at 375m resolution, while the equivalent MODIS products are produced at 500m resolution. Newly added isthe cloud-gap-filled daily product VNP101AF.

The VIIRS snow cover products are produced at the NASA Land Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) located at Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD and archived at the National Snow and Ice Data Center located in Boulder, CO.

The products are provided in NETCDF format. Currently, this collection is available from January 19, 2012 and forward.  Products from the VIIRS sensor aboard JPSS-1 (J1) will be also be available starting in mid-2023.

 

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