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Full catalog/SNEX17_SSA
SNEX17_SSA·v1·dataset

How fine or coarse snow grains are, laser-measured

SnowEx17 Laser Snow Microstructure Specific Surface Area Data V001
land NASA NSIDC_CPRD Level 3 PNGCSV
In plain English

What it measures. Reports how fine or coarse snow grains are, given as grain size and a related measure of how much surface area the snow exposes, layer by layer down through the snowpack.

How it's made. Measured on the ground in Colorado using a handheld laser device that gauges how snow reflects light, then converted into grain-size figures, rather than from a satellite.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers study snow structure and how it ages, and provides ground-truth measurements to check and improve satellite snow observations.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCECRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › FIRN › SNOW GRAIN SIZECRYOSPHERE › SNOW/ICE › SNOW MICROSTRUCTURE › SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2017-02-07 → 2017-02-25
  • Measured byGROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS (IRIS, IceCube)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-108.21907, 39.00035, -107.86944, 39.10595
  • FormatsPNG, CSV
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

This data set reports vertical profiles of snow reflectance, specific surface area (SSA), and optical equivalent diameter (grain size) at Grand Mesa, Colorado, USA, a snow-covered, forested study site about 40 miles east of the city of Grand Junction, CO. Reflectance was measured <em>in situ</em> using a 1310 nm integrating sphere laser device and converted to SSA and optical equivalent diameter.

Get the data

snex17_ssa_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNEX17_SSA",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from NSIDC_CPRD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.