ABoVE: Passive Microwave-derived Annual Snowoff Date Maps, 1988-2018

This dataset provides annual maps of the snowoff (SO) date from 1988-2018 across Alaska and parts of Far East Russia and northwest Canada at a resolution of 6.25 km. SO date is defined as the last day of persistent snow and was derived from the MEaSUREs Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave (PMW) EASE-Grid Brightness Temperature (Tb) Earth System Data Record (ESDR) product. The spatial domain was intended to match MODIS Alaska Snow Metrics and extend its temporal fidelity beyond the MODIS era. SO date estimates were compared to snow depth measurements collected at SNOTEL stations across Alaska and to three SO datasets derived from MODIS, Landsat, and the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS). The data from 1988-2016 included a coastal mask removing coastal pixels due to potential water contamination from coarse brightness temperature observations (Dersken et al., 2012). There is not a coastal mask for the 2017-2018 data. The full data are included, and data users should be aware that coastal values can be adversely affected by adjacent water bodies.