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NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Northern Hemisphere (NH) Snow Cover Extent (SCE), Version 1

Published by National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 06:34 AM | Dataset Last Updated: January 01, 2012 at 12:00 AM
This NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) is a record for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) Snow Cover Extent (SCE) spanning from October 4, 1966 to present, updated monthly after the 10th of each month. Data prior to June 1999 in the NH SCE CDR are based on satellite-derived maps of NH SCE produced weekly by trained NOAA meteorologists. In June 1999 weekly NOAA NH SCE maps ceased production, and were replaced by daily SCE output from the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). The weekly SCE maps are digitized to an 88x88 (cells) Cartesian grid laid over a NH polar stereographic projection. Each grid cell in the NH SCE CDR has a binary value, indicating snow covered or snow free. The NH SCE CDR has been used in international assessments of climate variability and change, and in investigations regarding the role of snow cover in the climate system. Mapping accuracy is such that this product is considered suitable for continental-scale climate studies. The data are updated monthly in netCDF file format with variables including SCE and National Meteorological Center (NMC) grid (88x88 cell) coordinates.

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  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • NOAA CDR page

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  • NCEI THREDDS Catalog

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  • NCEI Direct Download

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  • Registry of Open Data on AWS

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  • AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

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  • Azure Landing Page (Region: us-east)

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  • DSMR Publication at the NOAA Institutional Repository

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  • Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover variability and change over 1922 to 2010 including an assessment of uncertainty

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  • A long-term Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent data record for climate studies and monitoring

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  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

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  • CDR Program Contacts

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Earth Science > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Cover Earth Science > Terrestrial > Snow/Ice > Snow Cover NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) Program Satellite ESSA > Environmental Science Services administration NOAA-2 > National Oceanic & atmospheric Administration-2 NOAA-3 > National Oceanic & atmospheric Administration-3 NOAA-4 > National Oceanic & atmospheric Administration-4

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
accrualPeriodicity R/P1M
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:snow_cover_extent_contacts@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description This NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) is a record for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) Snow Cover Extent (SCE) spanning from October 4, 1966 to present, updated monthly after the 10th of each month. Data prior to June 1999 in the NH SCE CDR are based on satellite-derived maps of NH SCE produced weekly by trained NOAA meteorologists. In June 1999 weekly NOAA NH SCE maps ceased production, and were replaced by daily SCE output from the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). The weekly SCE maps are digitized to an 88x88 (cells) Cartesian grid laid over a NH polar stereographic projection. Each grid cell in the NH SCE CDR has a binary value, indicating snow covered or snow free. The NH SCE CDR has been used in international assessments of climate variability and change, and in investigations regarding the role of snow cover in the climate system. Mapping accuracy is such that this product is considered suitable for continental-scale climate studies. The data are updated monthly in netCDF file format with variables including SCE and National Meteorological Center (NMC) grid (88x88 cell) coordinates.
distribution 
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  {
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    "title": "Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover variability and change over 1922 to 2010 including an assessment of uncertainty",
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    "description": "Landing page for paper.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
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    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00756.xml
issued 2012-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "Earth Science > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice							> Snow Cover",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial > Snow/Ice							> Snow Cover",
  "NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) Program",
  "Satellite",
  "ESSA > Environmental Science Services							administration",
  "NOAA-2 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-2",
  "NOAA-3 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-3",
  "NOAA-4 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-4",
  "NOAA-5 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-5",
  "NOAA-6 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-6",
  "NOAA-7 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-7",
  "NOAA-9 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-9",
  "NOAA-11 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-11",
  "NOAA-14 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-14",
  "NOAA-15 > National Oceanic &							atmospheric Administration-15",
  "SMS > Synchronous Meteorological							satellites",
  "DMSP > Defense Meteorological Satellite							program",
  "GOES > NOAA Geostationary Operational							environmental Satellites",
  "GOES-7 > Geostationary Operational							environmental Satellite 7",
  "GOES-8 > Geostationary Operational							environmental Satellite 8",
  "GOES-9 > Geostationary Operational							environmental Satellite 9",
  "TIROS-N > Television Infrared Observation							satellite-N",
  "GMS > Japan Geostationary Meteorological							satellite",
  "GMS-4 > Geostationary Meteorological							satellite-4",
  "GMS-5 > Geostationary Meteorological							satellite-5",
  "METEOSAT",
  "METEOSAT-5 > METEOSAT Operational							programme 2 (MOP-1)",
  "METEOSAT-6 > METEOSAT Operational							programme 3 (MOP-1)",
  "Terra > Earth Observing System, Terra							(AM-1)",
  "METOP > Meteorological Operational							satellite",
  "Aqua > Earth Observing System, Aqua",
  "Video Camera",
  "VAS > VISSR Atmospheric Sounder",
  "SSMI/S > Special Sensor Microwave							imager/Sounder",
  "VHRR > Very High Resolution Radiometer",
  "VISSR > Visible And Infrared Spin Scan							radiometer",
  "AVHRR > Advanced Very High Resolution							radiometer",
  "SEVIRI > Spinning Enhanced Visible And							infrared Imager",
  "MODIS > Moderate-Resolution Imaging							spectroradiometer",
  "AMSR > Advanced Microwave Scanning							radiometer",
  "AMSU-B > Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit							b (AMSU-B)",
  "ASCAT",
  "MVIRI > METEOSAT Visible And Infra-red							imager",
  "Geographic Region > Northern Hemisphere",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "NOAA OneStop Project",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic							Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "RUTGERS/CLIMATE/GSL > Global Snow Lab,							Climate Lab, Rutgers University"
]
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2012-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://doi.org/10.25923/whkf-bb86",
  "http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/219/2011/tc-5-219-2011.html",
  "https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-7-137-2015"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-1.0,-180.0,89.0
temporal 1966-10-04T00:00:00+00:00/1966-10-04T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Northern Hemisphere (NH) Snow Cover Extent (SCE), Version 1

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