A Comparison of Finnish SCAmod Snow Maps and MODIS Snow Maps in Boreal Forests in Finland and in Manitoba, Canada

The feasibility of two MODIS-based products for identifying fully and partly snow covered areas is investigated. MODIS daily snow maps by NASA and MODIS-derived fractional snow cover maps by Finnish Environment Institute's (SYKE) SCAmo d-algorithm are compared and validated. The study was carried out for two boreal regions, Finland in North Europe and Manitoba area in Canada, covering an area of _~970 000 km². Results indicate distinct differences in recognition of fractional snow coverage.