A Comparison of the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System with Automated Satellite-Based Snow Coverage Algorithms

The Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) is a software platform that analysts, employed at the United States National Ice Center (USNIC), use to produce a gridded operational snow and ice map of the Northern Hemisphere. Interpretive analysis incorporates satellite imagery, instrument observations, on-site reports, and automated snow and ice detection algorithm output data to demarcate the current extent of ice and snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere on the IMS. The snow coverage data produced in the IMS is processed twice daily at 1-, 4-, and 24-km resolutions for use within numerical weather prediction models along with various research and development efforts.

Other snow cover products include the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily global snow cover extent product and the Suomi-NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) global daily snow maps. These automated snow coverage algorithms create snow cover maps with high resolution (500-m for MODIS and 350-m for VIIRS) but can have difficulty mapping snow in areas with cloud cover. Work is ongoing to compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of the IMS, MODIS, and VIIRS snow cover products, especially given the recent MODIS reprocessing upgrade from Collection 5 (C5) to Collection 6 (C6). This poster will provide a qualitative and quantitative comparison of the IMS and automated satellite-based snow products.