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Global SnowPack (GSP)

Global SnowPack is a global service which maps snow cover extent at different temporal scales.
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Global SnowPack (GSP)

Global SnowPack (GSP) - Mean

This product shows the mean snow cover duration (SCDmean), which is updated each year and consists of the arithmetic mean for the entire time series since the hydrological year 2001. The hydrological year begins in the meteorological autumn (October 1 of the previous year in the northern hemisphere or March 1 of the reference year in the southern hemisphere) and ends with the meteorological summer (northern hemisphere: August 31 of the reference year; southern hemisphere: February 28/29 of the following year). Analogous to the annual products for snow cover duration, the entire year as well as the early season (until mid-winter) and the late season (from mid-winter) are taken into account here.


Global SnowPack (GSP) - Daily

This product shows globally the daily snow cover extent (SCE). The snow cover extent is the result of the Global SnowPack processor's interpolation steps and all data gaps have been filled. Snow cover extent is updated daily and processed in near real time (3 days lag). In addition to the near real-time product (NRT_SCE), the entire annual data set is processed again after the end of a calendar year in order to close data gaps etc. and the result is made available as a quality-tested SCE product. There is also a quality layer for each day (SCE_Accuracy), which reflects the quality of the snow determination based on the time interval to the next "cloud-free" day, the time of year and the topographical/geographical location.


Global SnowPack (GSP) - Yearly

This product shows the snow cover duration for a hydrological year. Its beginning differs from the calendar year, since some of the precipitation that falls in late autumn and winter falls as snow and only drains away when the snow melts in the following spring or summer. The meteorological seasons are used for subdivision and the hydrological year begins in autumn and ends in summer. The snow cover duration is made available for three time periods: the snow cover duration for the entire hydrological year (SCD), the early snow cover duration (SCDE), which extends from autumn to midwinter, and the late snow cover duration (SCDL), which in turn extends over the period from mid-winter to the end of summer. For the northern hemisphere SCD lasts from September 1st to August 31st, for the southern hemisphere it lasts from March 1st to February 28th/29th. The SCDE lasts from September 1st to January 14th in the northern hemisphere and from March 1st to July 14th in the southern hemisphere. The SCDL lasts from January 15th to August 31st in the northern hemisphere and from July 15th to February 28th/29th in the southern hemisphere.