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Description
This global Level-2 (L2) data set provides daily snow cover detected using the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and a series of screens designed to alleviate errors and flag uncertain snow cover detections. The NDSI is derived from radiance data acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Terra satellite: DOI:10.5067/MODIS/MOD02HKM.061 and DOI:10.5067/MODIS/MOD021KM.061. Each data granule contains 5 minutes of swath data observed at a resolution of 500 m.
The terms "Version 61" and "Collection 6.1" are used interchangeably in reference to this release of MODIS data.
Version Description
1. The low visible reflectance screen for snow cover using bands 2 and 4 was lowered from 0.10 to 0.07.
2. Cloud mask algorithm flags are set for 'probably cloudy' and 'probably clear' sky conditions in the algorithm flags QA data set.
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
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Hall, D., & Riggs, G. (2021). MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 61 [Data set]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD10_L2.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-02
Hall, Dorothy, and George Riggs. “MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 61.” NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, 2021. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD10_L2.061. Date Accessed: 2026-05-02
Hall, Dorothy, and George Riggs. MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m, Version 61. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, 2021, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD10_L2.061. Date Accessed: 2026-05-02
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