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
Pre-ABoVE: Remotely Sensed Active Layer Thickness, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, 1992-2000	1	ALOS	PALSAR	1992-01-01 to 2000-12-31	N: 70.45 S: 69.95 E: -146.99 W: -149.5		netCDF-3
Pre-IceBridge ATM L1B Qfit Elevation and Return Strength V001	1	DHC-6, NASA DC-8, P-3A, P-3A ORION, P-3B	ATM	1993-06-23 to 2008-10-30	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -46 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		Binary
Pre-IceBridge ATM L2 Icessn Elevation, Slope, and Roughness V001	1	DHC-6, P-3A, P-3A ORION, P-3B	ATM	1993-06-23 to 2008-10-30	N: -46 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		ASCII
Pre-IceBridge MCoRDS L2 Ice Thickness V001	1	DC-8, DHC-6, P-3A, P-3A ORION, P-3B	MCoRDS, ACORDS, ATM, ICORDS	1993-06-23 to 2007-09-23	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -53 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		CSV
Primary Ancillary Data Geo-Colocated to OMI/Aura UV2 1-Orbit L2 Swath 13x24km V4 (OMUANC) at GES DISC	004	Aura, GEOS-5	OMI, NOT APPLICABLE	2004-10-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	24 Kilometers x 13 Kilometers
Primary Ancillary Data Geo-Colocated to OMI/Aura VIS 1-Orbit L2 Swath 13x24km V4 (OMVANC) at GES DISC	004	Aura, GEOS-5	OMI, NOT APPLICABLE	2004-10-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	24 Kilometers x 13 Kilometers
Probabilistic Freeze-Thaw Record for the Northern Hemisphere, 2016-2020	1	SMAP, GCOM-W1	SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, AMSR2	2016-01-01 to 2020-12-31	N: 90 S: 0 E: 180 W: -180		COG
Projections of Permafrost Thaw and Carbon Release for RCP 4.5 and 8.5, 1901-2299	1	MODELS	Computer	1901-01-01 to 2300-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4
RADARSAT-1 Level 0 Product	1	RADARSAT-1	SAR	1996-02-01 to 2009-03-17	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
RADARSAT-1 Level 1 Product	1	RADARSAT-1	SAR	1996-02-01 to 2009-03-17	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Radiostratigraphy and Age Structure of the Greenland Ice Sheet V002	2	C-130, DHC-6, NASA DC-8, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	MCoRDS, ACORDS, MCRDS, ICORDS	1993-06-24 to 2019-05-16	N: 83.9 S: 58.9 E: -10.7 W: -73.5	5 Kilometers x 5 Kilometers	netCDF-4
Reynolds Mountain East FMCW Radar Autopicked Snow Depths V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2009-03-19 to 2009-03-19	N: 43.071 S: 43.063 E: -116.749 W: -116.76		CSV, netCDF-4, Shapefile, Text File
SASSIE Arctic Field Campaign Shipboard S-Band Radar Level 3 Data Fall 2022	1	Ships	RADAR	2022-09-08 to 2022-09-30	N: 75.5 S: 67.5 E: -138 W: -170.5		geotiff
SASSIE Arctic Field Campaign Shipboard S-Band Radar Level 4 Data Fall 2022	1	Ships	RADAR	2022-09-08 to 2022-09-30	N: 75.5 S: 67.5 E: -138 W: -170.5		geotiff
SASSIE Arctic Field Campaign Summary Ice Concentration Rankings from ML analysis of SBAND Images Fall 2022	1	Ships	RADAR	2022-09-08 to 2022-09-30	N: 75.5 S: 67.5 E: -138 W: -170.5		netCDF-4
SASSIE ECCO Ocean and Sea-Ice Surface Freshwater Fluxes - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			netCDF-4
SASSIE ECCO Ocean and Sea-Ice Surface Heat Fluxes - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			netCDF-4
SASSIE ECCO Sea-Ice and Snow Horizontal Volume and Area Fluxes - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			NETCDF4
SASSIE ECCO Sea-Ice and Snow Horizontal Volume and Area Tendencies - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			NETCDF4
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data V002	2	DMSP 5D-2/F11, DMSP 5D-2/F13, DMSP 5D-2/F8, DMSP 5D-3/F17, Nimbus-7	SSM/I, SSMIS, SMMR	1978-10-26 to 2025-12-31	N: -39.23 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 30.98 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	PNG, netCDF-4
SEASAT SCATTEROMETER BINNED 50KM SIGMA-0 DATA (Wentz)	1	SEASAT 1	SASS	1978-07-07 to 1978-10-10	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	50000 Meters x 50000 Meters	RAW
Select Northern Hemisphere Glacier Velocity Maps Using Customized autoRIFT and PlanetScope Imagery V001	1	LANDSAT-8, LANDSAT-9, PlanetScope, Sentinel-2A, Sentinel-2B	OLI, OLI-2, PS2, PS2.SD, PSB.SD, Sentinel-2 MSI	2021-01-19 to 2022-11-27	N: 78.7800952 S: 78.6133048 E: 12.7046985 W: 11.5497732 , N: 60.4731365 S: 60.1011977 E: -137.8206057 W: -138.6933945 , N: 38.7041022 S: 38.6037845 E: 72.2802216 W: 72.1118897 , N: 60.2800575 S: 59.9016126 E: -139.4144551 W: -140.175999 , N: 35.4419895 S: 35.2267909 E: 77.6655226 W: 77.3183406	100 Meters x 100 Meters	GeoTIFF, Shapefile, CSV
Sentinel-1 Single Look Complex (SLC) Bursts	1	Sentinel-1A, Sentinel-1B, Sentinel-1C	C-SAR	2014-06-15 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization Full Resolution Ground Range Detected Product	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization Full Resolution Ground Range Detected Product Metadata	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

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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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