Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

NASA data range from measuring the current and historical extent of snow and ice to tracking its formation and melting. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Dataset	Geographic Region	Temporal Extent	Data Format	Potential Application Areas	Related Subtopics
ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Level 1 ScanSAR Product	Global	2014-08-01 to Present		Sea ice coverage and movement tracking	sea ice
ARIA Sentinel-1 Geocoded Unwrapped Interferograms	Global	2014-06-15 to Present		Glacier flow velocity estimation	glaciers, ice sheets
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data V006	Global	2018-10-13 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice freeboard determination Ice sheet mass balance studies	glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land Ice Height V006	Global	2018-10-14 to Present	HDF5	Ice sheet mass balance assessment Glacier thinning rate monitoring Ice sheet contribution to sea level rise Ice flow dynamics research Ice shelf stability monitoring Climate model validation for ice processes Cryosphere change detection Water resource planning in glaciated regions	glaciers, ice sheets
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Sea Ice Height V006	Global	2018-10-14 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice thickness estimation Ice volume calculation for mass balance Arctic shipping route safety assessment Climate model validation for sea ice Ice age and type discrimination	sea ice
GLIMS Glacier Database, Version 1	Global	1850-01-01 to Present	WMS WFS GML ASCII Shapefile KML	Global glacier inventory and monitoring Water resource planning in glaciated regions Glacier hazard identification Long-term glacier change detection	glaciers, ice sheets
MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Snow extent mapping and monitoring Climate model validation for snow cover Flood risk prediction from snowmelt Cold region transportation planning Albedo feedback studies in climate research	snow ice
MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Snow cover mapping	snow ice
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations, Version 2	Arctic, Antarctica, Polar, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere	2021-11-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Sea ice edge position tracking Rapid response to changing ice conditions	sea ice
OPERA Surface Displacement from Sentinel-1 validated product (Version 1)	Global	2016-07-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 XML PNG Zarr	Ice sheet and glacier movement tracking	glaciers, ice sheets
RSS SSMIS OCEAN PRODUCT GRIDS 3-DAY AVERAGE FROM DMSP F17 NETCDF V7	Global	2006-12-12 to Present	NetCDF-4	Sea ice edge mapping in polar regions	sea ice
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 2	Polar	1978-10-26 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Long-term sea ice trend analysis Arctic amplification studies Polar ecosystem management Polar climate feedback mechanism research Multi-decadal ice variability studies	sea ice
SENTINEL-1B_DUAL_POL_GRD_HIGH_RES	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Snow cover extent monitoring	frozen ground, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, snow ice
SENTINEL-1B_SLC	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Coherence analysis for subtle change detection Polarimetric target characterization Glacier velocity measurement and ice monitoring	frozen ground, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, snow ice
VIIRS/JPSS1 Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 375m SIN Grid, Version 2	Global	2018-01-05 to Present	HDF-EOS5	High-resolution snow extent monitoring Snowmelt timing detection	snow ice
VIIRS/NPP Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 375m SIN Grid, Version 2	Global	2012-01-19 to Present	HDF-EOS5	Daily snow cover extent mapping Snow accumulation and ablation monitoring Water supply forecasting in snowmelt-dependent regions Winter storm impact assessment	snow ice
VIIRS/NPP Imagery Resolution 6-Min L1B Swath 375 m	Global	2012-01-19 to Present	NetCDF	Ice edge and sea ice monitoring	sea ice

Cryosphere Datasets

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Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
A Concise Experiment Plan for the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment	1.1	FIELD INVESTIGATION	Computer	2014-01-01 to 2021-12-31	N: 81.6086 S: 39.415 E: -66.9178 W: -176.125		PDF
ABCFlux v2: Arctic-Boreal CO2 and CH4 In-situ Flux and Environmental Data	1	FIELD SURVEYS	SOIL MOISTURE PROBE, SOIL TEMPERATURE PROBE, SURVEYING TOOLS, EDDY CORRELATION DEVICES	1984-05-01 to 2024-12-31	N: 82.8226 S: 43.323 E: 161.843 W: -165.833		CSV
ABoVE: Active Layer Thickness from Airborne L- and P- band SAR, Alaska, 2017, Ver. 3	3	GULFSTREAM 1000 (695A)	UAVSAR	2017-06-19 to 2017-09-16	N: 71.5212 S: 57.8294 E: -110.418 W: -166.733		multiple
ABoVE: Active Layer Thickness from Remote Sensing Permafrost Model, Alaska, 2001-2015	1	SATELLITES, SMAP	MODIS, SMAP L-BAND RADAR	2001-01-01 to 2015-12-31	N: 70.214 S: 55.5667 E: -132.576 W: -179.18		netCDF-4 classic
ABoVE: Aerial Photographs of Frozen Lakes near Fairbanks, Alaska, October 2014	1	Airplane	MULTI-SPECTRAL	2014-10-08 to 2014-10-08	N: 64.9392 S: 64.8589 E: -147.758 W: -147.949		GeoTIFF
ABoVE: Annual Thaw Slump Expansion on East Fork Chandalar River, Alaska, 2008-2017	1	LANDSAT	DIGITIZER	2008-08-23 to 2017-09-17	N: 67.635 S: 67.6326 E: -146.058 W: -146.067		Shapefile
ABoVE: CO2 and CH4 Fluxes and Meteorology at Flux Tower Sites, Alaska, 2015-2017	1	FIELD SURVEYS, GROUND STATIONS, METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS	PROBES, NET RADIOMETERS, LICOR QUANTUM SENSOR, THERMOCOUPLES, EDDY CORRELATION DEVICES, PYRANOMETERS	2015-01-01 to 2017-03-09	N: 71.282 S: 68.4864 E: -155.75 W: -157.41		CSV
ABoVE: Dall Sheep Track Sinking Depths, Snow Depth, Hardness, and Density, 2017	1	FIELD SURVEYS	SNOW DENSITY CUTTER, SNOW MEASURING ROD	2017-03-19 to 2017-03-22	N: 62.2791 S: 62.2579 E: -143.009 W: -143.06		CSV
ABoVE: Last Day of Spring Snow, Alaska, USA, and Yukon Territory, Canada, 2000-2016	1	Terra	MODIS	2000-04-01 to 2016-07-02	N: 68.9658 S: 52.1694 E: -97.9489 W: -175.762		GeoTIFF
ABoVE: Methane Ebullition Hotspots in Frozen Lakes near Fairbanks, Alaska, Oct 2014	1	FIELD SURVEYS, Airplane	GPS, CAMERAS	2014-10-08 to 2014-10-08	N: 64.9368 S: 64.863 E: -147.769 W: -147.939		Shapefile
ABoVE: Passive Microwave-derived Annual Snow Melt Duration Date Maps, 1988-2018	1.1	Nimbus-7, DMSP 5D-2/F10, Aqua, DMSP	SMMR, SSMIS, AMSR-E, SSM	1988-02-09 to 2018-07-20	N: 72.41 S: 51.6 E: -107.833 W: -180		multiple
ABoVE: Passive Microwave-derived Annual Snowpack Main Melt Onset Date Maps, 1988-2023	1.0	DMSP 5D-2/F10, Aqua, Nimbus, DMSP	SSMIS, AMSR-E, SMMR, SSM	1988-02-09 to 2023-07-20	N: 72.4085 S: 51.6089 E: -107.83 W: -180		multiple
ABoVE: Permafrost Measurements and Distribution Across the Y-K Delta, Alaska, 2016	1	IKONOS, FIELD SURVEYS, Airplane	Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope, SOIL DEPTH PROBE, LIDAR	2009-06-27 to 2016-07-17	N: 61.2881 S: 61.1694 E: -165.03 W: -165.69		multiple
ABoVE: Rain-on-Snow Frequency and Distribution during Cold Seasons, Alaska, 1988-2023	2	Aqua, GCOM-W1, DMSP	AMSR-E, AMSR2, SSMIS	1988-11-01 to 2023-03-31	N: 73.8339 S: 48.6232 E: -124.326 W: -175.397		COG
ABoVE: Upscaled Active Layer Thickness in Northern Alaska, 2014-2017	1	G-III	P-SAR	2014-01-01 to 2017-12-31	N: 74.7203 S: 59.3494 E: -133.048 W: -171.803		COG
Alaska's Changing YK Delta: Knowledge Exchange between Elders and Geoscientists, 2018	1	FIELD SURVEYS	VISUAL OBSERVATIONS	2018-11-14 to 2018-11-16	N: 63.4333 S: 59.5816 E: -159.478 W: -166.553		PDF
ALOS PALSAR High Resolution Radiometric Terrain Corrected Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-03-23 to 2011-04-22	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
ALOS PALSAR Level 1.0 Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-03-23 to 2011-04-22	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
ALOS PALSAR Level 1.1 Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-01-23 to 2011-05-23	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
ALOS PALSAR Level 1.5 Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-03-23 to 2011-04-22	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
ALOS PALSAR Level 2.2 Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-01-23 to 2011-05-23	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
ALOS PALSAR Low Resolution Radiometric Terrain Corrected Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-03-23 to 2011-04-22	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Level 1 ScanSAR Product	1	ALOS-2	PALSAR-2	2014-08-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		ZIP
AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified L3 Daily 12.5 km Brightness Temperatures, Sea Ice Concentration, Motion & Snow Depth Polar Grids V001	1	Aqua, GCOM-W1	AMSR-E, AMSR2	2012-07-02	N: -39.23 S: -89.24 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 89.24 S: 30.98 E: 180 W: -180	12.5 Kilometers x 12.5 Kilometers	HDF-EOS5, ASCII
AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified L3 Daily 25 km Brightness Temperatures & Sea Ice Concentration Polar Grids V001	1	Aqua, GCOM-W1	AMSR-E, AMSR2	2012-07-02	N: 89.24 S: 30.98 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -39.23 S: -89.24 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	HDF-EOS5

Cryosphere Data Tools

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Tool Sort descending	Description	Services
AppEEARS	The The Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) offers users a simple and efficient way to perform data access and transformation processes.	Search and Discovery, Subsetting, Customization, Downloading, Visualization
GLIMS Glacier Database	Visualize and download data from the GLIMS Glacier Database using the map-based GLIMS Glacier Viewer or search and download data using custom parameters in the GLIMS Text Search Interface.	Downloading, Search and Discovery, Visualization
OpenAltimetry	OpenAltimetry is a map-based visualization tool for exploring surface elevation data across Earth over time.	Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization
RTC Stack Processor	The radiometric terrain correction (RTC) stack processor tool facilitates time-series analysis of such phenomena as flooding events, deforestation, or glacier retreat.	Analysis, Processing, Search and Discovery, Visualization
Vertex	Vertex is a graphical search interface for finding synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data.	Search and Discovery, Access, Downloading, Processing, Subsetting
Worldview	Worldview offers the capability to interactively browse over 1,200 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and download the underlying data.	Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization, Access, Comparison, Monitoring Natural Events

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Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

Commonly Used Datasets for Applications in the Cryosphere

Cryosphere Datasets

Cryosphere Data Tools

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