Spatial-temporal Patterns of Sub-seasonal H2O Cover Change Observed from VIIRS

More than two thirds of the earth’s surface are covered by the liquid (water) or solid (snow/ice) phases of H₂O. Not only does the H₂O cover over land exhibit large seasonal changes, significant portions of the ocean water near the north and south poles also change phases within each year. Several data products have been produced to depict the distribution of H₂O cover over the earth’s surface, including global surface water and flood products, snow cover data, and sea ice data. However, mapping errors, data gaps, and other data quality issues in the original data files provided by the producers make it extremely challenging to use those products. To address these data quality issues, we synthesized the original data files with global surface type and other high quality data products to produce global monthly composites that are spatially contiguous and have minimum data quality issues. We will use these composites to quantify the spatial-temporal dynamics of sub-seasonal H₂O cover change across the globe. This presentation will include an overview of the original H₂O products, how they were synthesized to produce monthly composites, a quality assessment of those composites, and a comprehensive analysis of global patterns of sub-seasonal H₂O cover change as revealed by the composites.