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
SnowEx17 GPR and Lidar-Derived Snowpack Relative Permittivities and Densities V001	1	AIRCRAFT	LIDAR	2017-02-08 to 2017-02-25	N: 39.106 S: 39.0005 E: -107.86 W: -108.2195		CSV
SnowEx17 Ground Penetrating Radar V002	2	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2017-02-08 to 2017-02-25	N: 39.11115 S: 38.9935 E: -107.85785 W: -108.22367		ASCII
SnowEx17 Laser Snow Microstructure Specific Surface Area Data V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	IRIS, IceCube	2017-02-07 to 2017-02-25	N: 39.10595 S: 39.00035 E: -107.86944 W: -108.21907		PNG, CSV
SnowEx17 Radiometrics Surface-Based Radiometer Brightness Temperatures V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	RADIOMETERS	2017-02-14 to 2017-02-18	N: 39.10552 S: 39.02098 E: -107.846975 W: -108.23134528825		JPEG, ASCII
SnowEx17 Snow Depth from Time-Lapse Imagery V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	CAMERAS	2016-10-01 to 2017-06-01	N: 39.055 S: 39.007 E: -107.934 W: -108.216		CSV
SnowEx17 SnowMicroPen (SMP) Raw Penetration Force Profiles V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	SMP	2017-02-07 to 2017-02-25	N: 39.027679996706 S: 38.980648493922 E: -107.84605082281 W: -108.22919239513 , N: 37.940572 S: 37.856078 E: -107.6725 W: -107.752128		PNG, XML, ASCII
SnowEx17 Time Series Sonic Snow Depth Measurement Array V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	ULTRASONIC DEPTH SENSOR	2016-10-12 to 2017-07-03	N: 39.03430447 S: 39.02755193 E: -107.9335668 W: -108.0545976		JPEG, ASCII
SnowEx20 Cameron Pass Ground Penetrating Radar V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2019-12-18 to 2020-03-12	N: 40.52 S: 40.51 E: -105.88 W: -105.891		CSV
SnowEx20 Community Snow Depth Probe Measurements V001	1	FIELD SURVEYS	PROBES	2020-01-28 to 2020-02-12	N: 39.07 S: 39 E: -107.997 W: -108.228		CSV
SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP Computed Tomography Snow Microstructure V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	Microtomography	2020-02-03 to 2020-02-08	N: 39.065321 S: 39.005111 E: -108.110485 W: -108.228389		Excel, Text File, BMP
SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP CSU 1GHz GPR V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2020-02-06 to 2020-02-09	N: 39.04 S: 39.015 E: -108 W: -108.25		CSV
SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP Lidar and GPR-Derived Snow Water Equivalent and Snow Density V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2020-02-01 to 2020-02-02	N: 39.039456 S: 39.009209 E: -108.157747 W: -108.21092		CSV, GeoTIFF
SnowEx20 Grand Mesa IOP UNM 800 and 1600 MHz MALA GPR V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2020-01-28 to 2020-02-06	N: 39.05 S: 39.005 E: -108.12 W: -108.21		CSV
SnowEx20 Grand Mesa Snow Depth from Snow Pole Time-Lapse Imagery V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	CAMERAS	2019-09-29 to 2020-06-10	N: 39.067 S: 39 E: -107.997 W: -108.228		CSV
SnowEx20 Jemez UNM 800 MHz MALA GPR V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2020-01-22 to 2020-03-04	N: 35.889 S: 35.85 E: -106.505 W: -106.537		CSV
SnowEx20 Laser Snow Microstructure Specific Surface Area Data V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	IRIS, IceCube	2020-01-27 to 2020-02-12	N: 39.06417 S: 39.0087 E: -108.00312 W: -108.22143		PNG, CSV
SnowEx20 Time Series Snow Change Measurements from Interval Boards V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	SWE Sampler	2019-12-08 to 2020-04-22	N: 44.30463 S: 35.85789 E: -105.54613 W: -120.29898		CSV
SnowEx20-21 Cameron Pass Derived Snowpack Relative Permittivities and Densities from Ground Penetrating Radar V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR, LIDAR	2019-12-18 to 2021-05-27	N: 40.5202 S: 40.5154 E: -105.8889 W: -105.8931		CSV
SnowEx20-21 QSI Lidar Snow Depth 0.5m UTM Grid V001	1	King Air	LIDAR	2021-03-15 to 2021-03-20	N: 44.3658 S: 43.0343 E: -114.8547 W: -117.0661 , N: 40.6041 S: 40.5161 E: -111.5989 W: -111.7319 , N: 40.5841 S: 38.9681 E: -105.7432 W: -108.3384	0.5 Meters x 0.5 Meters	TIFF
SnowEx21 Cameron Pass Ground Penetrating Radar V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPR	2021-01-13 to 2021-05-27	N: 40.52 S: 40.517 E: -105.89 W: -105.893 , N: 40.566 S: 40.563 E: -105.867 W: -105.873		CSV
SnowEx21 Prairie Station Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor Snow Water Equivalent and Soil Moisture V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	SOIL MOISTURE PROBE	2020-11-22 to 2021-05-08	N: 47.08 S: 47.04 E: -109.93 W: -109.97	171 Meters x 171 Meters	CSV
SnowEx21 Senator Beck Basin and Grand Mesa, CO AVIRIS-NG Surface Spectral Reflectance V001	1	B-200	AVIRIS-NG	2021-03-19 to 2021-04-29	N: 40 S: 37 E: -107 W: -109	4 Meters x 4 Meters	BIL, ASCII
SnowEx21 Time Series Snow Change Measurements from Interval Boards V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	SWE Sampler	2020-11-18 to 2021-05-12	N: 44.30344 S: 37.81433 E: -105.86334 W: -116.13968		CSV
SnowEx21 Time Series Snow Depth Measurements V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	GPS, PROBES	2020-11-18 to 2021-05-27	N: 47.0607 S: 37.9071 E: -105.86093 W: -116.1235		CSV
SnowEx21 Time Series Snow Pits V001	1	GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	A2 Photonic_WISe, GPS, SNOW DENSITY CUTTER, THERMOMETERS	2020-11-16 to 2021-05-27	N: 47.0607 S: 37.9071 E: -105.86093 W: -116.12351		CSV, Excel, JPEG

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Cryosphere Data Access and Tools

Commonly Used Datasets for Applications in the Cryosphere

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