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Description
This data set, part of the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program, consists of two global records of the daily freeze/thaw (F/T) status of the landscape. The primary record is derived from radiometric brightness temperatures acquired between 1979 and 2017 by three satellite-based passive microwave sensors: the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS).
A second, synergistic record is available for the years 2002 to 2017, derived from observations acquired by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2).
Version Description
Extended F/T record to 2017;
F/T domain expanded to all land areas affected by seasonal freezing, including urban, snow-ice dominant, open water body dominant, and barren land;
Added a modified seasonal threshold algorithm (MSTA) and pixel-wise, annual MSTA calibration using daily surface air temperature records;
Added bit flags to identify cells (and days) with missing/interpolated Tb, large open water bodies, complex terrain, and large precipitation events;
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
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Kim, Y., Kimball, J., Glassy, J., & McDonald, K. (2017). MEaSUREs Global Record of Daily Landscape Freeze/Thaw Status, Version 4 [Dataset]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/CRYOSPHERE/NSIDC-0477.004 Date Accessed: 2026-07-23
Kim, Y., Kimball, J., Glassy, J., & McDonald, K. (2017). MEaSUREs Global Record of Daily Landscape Freeze/Thaw Status, Version 4 [Dataset]. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/CRYOSPHERE/NSIDC-0477.004 Date Accessed: 2026-07-23
Kim, Youngwook, et al. “MEaSUREs Global Record of Daily Landscape Freeze/Thaw Status, Version 4.” NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, 2017, https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/CRYOSPHERE/NSIDC-0477.004. Date Accessed: 2026-07-23
Watts, Jennifer D., Potter, Stefano, Rogers, Brendan M., Virkkala, AnnaMaria, Fiske, Greg, Arndt, Kyle A., Burrell, Arden, Butler, Kevin, Gerlt, Bob, Grayson, John, Shestakova, Tatiana A., Du, Jinyang, Kim, Youngwook, Parmentier, FransJan W., Natali, Susan M.