Folder SnowCoveredArea
Snow Covered Area (MOD10CM)
The Snow Covered Area product is based on a Normalized Difference Snow Index
(NDSI), which is similar to NDVI, but exploits different bands in the equation (Equation 3),
namely Green (Band 4) and Short Wavelength Near-infrared (SWNIR, Band 6). It is
important to note that the Band 6 sensor on MODIS Aqua malfunctioned shortly after launch,
so Snow Covered Area from the Aqua sensor is calculated using Bands 3 and 7. This may
introduce errors in identifying snow in vegetated areas, as the use of Band 7 results in false
snow detection. For this reason the MODIS Terra product has been provided for the CAFF
system.
For usage please see ABDS Data Policy
Suggested citation:
CAFF (2015). Snow Covered Area: Arctic Land Cover Change Index. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Arctic Biodiversity Data Service (ABDS).
