Global Monthly EASE-Grid Snow Water Equivalent Climatology: SSMR, SSMI

Global Monthly EASE-Grid Snow Water Equivalent Climatology: SSMR, SSMI

This data set comprises global, monthly satellite-derived snow water equivalent (SWE) climatologies from November 1978 through May 2007, and is updated with more recent data periodically. Global data are gridded to the
Northern and Southern 25 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grids (EASE-Grids). Global snow water equivalent is derived from Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and selected Special Sensor Microwave/Imagers (SSM/I). Northern Hemisphere data are enhanced with snow cover frequencies derived from the NOAA Northern Hemisphere EASE-Grid Weekly Snow Cover and Sea Ice Extent Version 2 data (the snow charts were not produced for the Southern Hemisphere). These data are suitable for continental-scale time-series studies of snow cover and water equivalent.

Please cite data sources, following the data providers' instructions
Dataset DOIs
None
Hosted Climate Index Files
None
Data Access
  1. Index nsidc0271_monthly_ease_grid_swe
Usage Restrictions
None

Cite this page

Acknowledgement of any material taken from or knowledge gained from this page is appreciated:

National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified "The Climate Data Guide: Global Monthly EASE-Grid Snow Water Equivalent Climatology: SSMR, SSMI.” Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/global-monthly-ease-grid-snow-water-equivalent-climatology-ssmr-ssmi on 2025-07-30.


Citation of datasets is separate and should be done according to the data providers' instructions. If known to us, data citation instructions are given in the Data Access section, above.


Acknowledgement of the Climate Data Guide project is also appreciated:

Schneider, D. P., C. Deser, J. Fasullo, and K. E. Trenberth, 2013: Climate Data Guide Spurs Discovery and Understanding. Eos Trans. AGU, 94, 121–122, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013eo130001

Key Figures

Climate Data Guide Image: Snow Water Climatology (NH)

Monthly mean snow water equivalent for February 2005. (Climate Data Guide; D. Shea)
Climate Data Guide Image: Snow Water Climatology (SH)

Southern Hemisphere monthly long-term average snow water equivalent (mm) from SSM/I, August 1987 - June 2003. (Credit: NSIDC)

Other Information

Earth system components and main variables
Cryosphere, Snow Water Equivalent
Type of data product
Satellite Data Products, Platforms, Other, SMMR, SSMI
Dataset collections
None

Years of record
to
Metadata ID
None
Data time period extended
None
Timestep
Monthly
Domain
NH - Northern Hemisphere, SH - Southern Hemisphere
Formats:
binary
Input Data
None
Vertical Levels:
Surface Data Set
Missing Data Flag
None
Ocean or Land
None
Spatial Resolution

721x721 EASE Grid

Model Resolution (reanalysis)
None
Data Assimilation Method
None
Model Vintage (reanalysis)
None

Key Publications
Not available...