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
IceBridge WISE L2 Ice Thickness and Surface Elevation V001	1	DHC-3	WISE	2012-03-16 to 2012-03-26	N: 61.7 S: 58.7 E: -137.1 W: -148.6		CSV
IceBridge-Related DMS-Derived L4 Sea Ice Surface Cover Classification Images V001	1	B-200, C-130, DC-8, HU-25A, HU-25C, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	DMS	2010-03-23 to 2018-04-16	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		TIFF
IceBridge-Related DMS-Derived L4 Sea Ice Surface Cover Classification Orthorectified Images V001	1	C-130, DC-8, HU-25A, HU-25C, P-3B, WP-3D ORION	DMS	2010-03-23 to 2017-07-25	N: 90 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		TIFF
ICESat L4 Seasonal Gridded Sea Ice Thickness V001	1	ICESat	GLAS	2003-02-20 to 2008-03-21	N: 86 S: 66 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	netCDF-4, PNG
ICESat-2 and CryoSat-2 L4 Monthly Arctic Snow Depth and Sea Ice Thickness V001	1	CRYOSAT-2, ICESat-2	SIRAL, ATLAS	2018-10-01 to 2021-04-30	N: 90 S: 62 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	netCDF-4
ICESat-2 Derived Sea Ice Melt Pond Characteristics from the Density-Dimension Algorithm V003	3	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2020-06-04 to 2020-08-28	N: 90 S: 75 E: 0 W: -150		ASCII, PNG
ICESat-2 L4 Along-Track Sea Ice Thickness V001	001	ICESat-2, MODELS	ATLAS, NOT APPLICABLE	2018-10-14 to 2022-05-01	N: 88 S: 60 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4
ICESat-2 L4 Grounding Zone for Antarctic Ice Shelves V001	1	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2019-03-30 to 2020-09-30	N: -60 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5, JPEG
ICESat-2 L4 Monthly Gridded Sea Ice Thickness V004	4	ICESat-2, MODELS	ATLAS, NOT APPLICABLE	2018-11-01 to 2025-04-30	N: 88 S: 30 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	netCDF-4
International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Ice Snow Product in Native Data Format	1	NOAA-10, NOAA-11, NOAA-12, NOAA-14, NOAA-15, NOAA-16, NOAA-17, NOAA-18, NOAA-7, NOAA-8, NOAA-9	AVHRR	1983-07-03 to 2009-12-28			Binary
International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Stage D1 3-Hourly Cloud Products - Revised Algorithm in Hierarchical Data Format	1	GMS-1, GMS-2, GMS-3, GMS-4, GMS-5, GOES-10, GOES-11, GOES-12, INSAT, METEOSAT-2, METEOSAT-3, METEOSAT-4, METEOSAT-5, METEOSAT-6, METEOSAT-7, METEOSAT-8, METEOSAT-9, MTSAT-1R, NOAA-10, NOAA-11, NOAA-12, NOAA-14, NOAA-15, NOAA-16, NOAA-17, NOAA-18, NOAA-7, NOAA-8, NOAA-9, GOES-5, GOES-6, GOES-7, GOES-8, GOES-9	VISSR, GOES I-M Imager, VHRR, NOT APPLICABLE, MVIRI, SEVIRI, JAMI, AVHRR	1983-07-01 to 2009-12-31			HDF4
International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Stage D2 Monthly Cloud Products - Revised Algorithm in Hierarchical Data Format	1	GMS-1, GMS-2, GMS-3, GMS-4, GMS-5, GOES-10, GOES-11, GOES-12, INSAT, METEOSAT-2, METEOSAT-3, METEOSAT-4, METEOSAT-5, METEOSAT-6, METEOSAT-7, METEOSAT-8, METEOSAT-9, MTSAT-1R, NOAA-10, NOAA-11, NOAA-12, NOAA-14, NOAA-15, NOAA-16, NOAA-17, NOAA-18, NOAA-7, NOAA-8, NOAA-9, GOES-5, GOES-6, GOES-7, GOES-8, GOES-9	VISSR, GOES I-M Imager, VHRR, NOT APPLICABLE, MVIRI, SEVIRI, JAMI, AVHRR	1983-07-01 to 2009-12-31			HDF4
ISLSCP II ECMWF Near-Surface Meteorology Parameters	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1985-01-01 to 1998-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		ASCII Grid
ISLSCP II Global Sea Ice Concentration	1	COMPUTERS, Nimbus-7, DMSP	Computer, SMMR, SSM/I	1986-01-01 to 1995-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		Shapefile
ISLSCP II Northern Hemisphere Monthly Snow Cover Extent	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1986-01-01 to 1995-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		Shapefile
JPL GRACE and GRACE-FO Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height Coastal Resolution Improvement (CRI) Filtered Release 06.3 Version 04	RL06.3Mv04	GRACE-FO, GRACE	GRACE-FO MWI, GRACE-FO LRI, GRACE-FO ACC, GRACE-FO SCA, KBR, GRACE LRR, GRACE ACC, GRACE SCA	2002-04-04	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.5 Decimal Degrees x 0.5 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
JPL GRACE and GRACE-FO Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height JPL Release 06.3 Version 04	RL06.3Mv04	GRACE-FO, GRACE	GRACE-FO MWI, GRACE-FO LRI, GRACE-FO ACC, GRACE-FO SCA, KBR, GRACE LRR, GRACE ACC, GRACE SCA	2002-04-04	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.5 Decimal Degrees x 0.5 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
KMZ for ALOS PALSAR Radiometric Terrain Corrected Product	1	ALOS	PALSAR	2006-03-23 to 2011-04-22	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Land Cover Classification, Snow Cover, and Fractional Snow-Covered Area Maps from Maxar WorldView Satellite Images V001	1	WORLDVIEW-2, WORLDVIEW-3	CAMERA	2015-05-20 to 2019-05-05	N: 39.176142 S: 38.867847 E: -108.032283 W: -108.298097 , N: 48.672717 S: 48.481442 E: -120.993 W: -121.203708 , N: 48.441717 S: 48.269722 E: -120.932614 W: -121.179528		GeoTIFF
Level-4 9ka Greenland Ice Sheet Balance Velocity V001	1	DC-8, P-3B	ACORDS, ICORDS, MCRDS, MCoRDS	1993-06-23 to 2013-04-26	N: 81.51 S: 58.91 E: 6.62 W: -88.33	5 Kilometers x 5 Kilometers	netCDF-4
Lund-Potsdam-Jena Wetland Hydrology and Methane DGV Model (LPJ-WHyMe v1.3.1)	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1972-01-01 to 2010-10-15	N: 90 S: -60 E: 180 W: -180		multiple
LVIS Classic L2 Geolocated Surface Elevation and Canopy Height Product V001	1	B-200, C-130, G-III, G-V	LVIS	1998-03-20 to Present	N: 72 S: -3 E: 17 W: -168		ASCII
LVIS Facility L2 Geolocated Surface Elevation and Canopy Height Product V001	1	B-200, G-III, G-V, P-3B	LVIS	2018-11-07 to Present	N: 88 S: -35 E: 27 W: -167		ASCII
MEaSUREs Annual Antarctic Ice Velocity Maps V001	1	ALOS, ENVISAT, LANDSAT-8, RADARSAT-1, RADARSAT-2, Sentinel-1A, Sentinel-1B, TDX, TSX	PALSAR, ASAR, OLI, SAR, C-SAR	2005-07-01 to 2025-06-30	N: -60 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	1 Kilometers x 1 Kilometers	netCDF-4
MEaSUREs Annual Greenland Outlet Glacier Terminus Positions from SAR Mosaics V002	2	LANDSAT-1, LANDSAT-2, LANDSAT-3, LANDSAT-4, LANDSAT-5, LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8, RADARSAT-1, Sentinel-1A, Sentinel-1B	MSS, TM, ETM+, OLI, SAR, C-SAR	1972-09-16 to 2021-03-25	N: 83 S: 60 E: -14 W: -75	15 Meters to 50 Meters x 15 Meters to 50 Meters	Shapefile

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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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