Snow depth from airborne laser scans (0.5 m) — SNEX20_QSI_SD

In plain English

What it measures. How deep the snow is on the ground, mapped in fine detail at half-meter spacing across several mountain study areas.

How it's made. Calculated from airborne laser (lidar) scans flown on a King Air aircraft during the SnowEx 2020 and 2021 campaigns, by comparing terrain models of the snowy ground.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers measure mountain snowpack across Colorado, Idaho, and Utah, supporting studies of water supply and snow science, and pairs with companion elevation and vegetation-height datasets.

What's measured

CRYOSPHERE › SNOW/ICE › SNOW DEPTH

Coverage & cadence

Time span2020-02-09 → 2020-02-19
Measured byKing Air (LIDAR)
Processing levelLevel 3
Spatial extent-117.0661, 43.0343, -114.8547, 44.3658
FormatsTIFF
StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

Measure sea ice, snow cover and glaciers
Watch ice-sheet elevation change
Track freeze/thaw and permafrost

Official description

This data set is part of the SnowEx 2020 and SnowEx 2021 campaigns and provides snow depth values at a 0.5 m spatial resolution, derived from point cloud digital terrain models. Snow depths are available for February 2020 and March 2021 for multiple areas in Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. These data were produced alongside <a href="https://doi.org/10.5067/YO583L7ZOLOO">DEM</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.5067/8RBIUIPEUJ7Z">Vegetation Height</a> data sets.

Get the data

snex20_qsi_sd_access.py

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

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNEX20_QSI_SD",
    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.

What's measured

Coverage & cadence

What you can do with it

Get the data

Official links