View NSIDC Data on Virtual Globes: Google
Earth
The National Snow and Ice Data Center offers some of our
data in the form of images. We have created Google Earth™ files
that enable you to overlay the following data-based images on a virtual
globe. Our goal is to help people better understand the cryosphere—where
the world is frozen—by making our data more visible and interactive.
Featured Data highlights some of our
most requested data, as well as our newest Google Earth files.
You can view more snow, ice, ice shelves, glaciers, permafrost,
and sea ice on the globe.
Or, you can use Google Earth to locate cryospheric
field data sets on the globe.
Note: each of our Google Earth files may reference multiple
subjects and data sets. A particular file may be listed under more than
one subject in the table that follows.
Featured Data
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A Climate Change Tour of Cold Places
View a narrated tour of the snowy and icy regions of the world covering sea ice, glaciers, ice shelves, and permafrost.
Climate Change Tour of Cold Places (KML, 32 KB)
Data Sources and Acknowledgements
Note: This was a collaborative project between NSIDC and the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education.
Also see: Scientists Answer Student's Questions about the Cryosphere
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Wilkins
Ice Bridge Collapse, February-April 2009
View a time series of satellite
images showing the break up of an ice bridge that was shoring up
the Wilkins ice shelf.
Wilkins
ice bridge collapse file for Google Earth (KMZ, 547 KB)
Data Source: Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
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Glaciers and
Climate Change
View glacier photograph pairs
showing how some glaciers have changed over time
Glaciers
and climate change file
for Google Earth (KML,
48 KB)
Data Source: Glacier Photograph Collection
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September
Sea Ice Extent, 1979-2009
Compare satellite images of September
sea ice extent for the last thirty years
September
sea ice extent, 1979-2009 file for Google Earth (KMZ,
360 KB)
Data Source: Sea Ice Index
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Snow (MODIS Sensor)
View global, monthly average
snow cover each month for one year:
NOTE: The following months are missing from this time series: June 2001, March 2002, and December 2003.
Current
year snow
cover
(KML, 673 KB)
2008 snow cover (KML, 670 KB)
2007 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2006 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2005 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2004 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2003 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2002 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2001 snow cover (KML,
670 KB)
2000 snow
cover (KML,
670 KB)
Data Source: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, Version 5 |
View More Snow, Ice, Glaciers, Permafrost,
and Sea Ice on the Globe
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Changes
in Glaciers, the Larsen B Ice Shelf, and Arctic Sea Ice Extent
View photographs showing long-term
changes in glaciers; watch the disintegration of the Larsen B ice
shelf; and view Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extents from 1979
through present
Glaciers,
ice shelves, and sea ice file for Google Earth (KML,
8 KB)
Data Sources: Glacier Photograph
Collection; Sea Ice Index; Animation
of Larsen B breakup |
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Glaciers
View photographs of more than
10,000 glaciers, 1880s to present
Glaciers and permafrost file for Google Earth (KML,
5.2 KB)
Data Source: Glacier Photograph Collection; Circum-Arctic
Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions
Note:.On October 1, 2007 we added more than 1,200
Greenland glaciers and several Franz Josef, New Zealand glaciers.
Prior users may download the new file to get the updates. |
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Glaciers:
GLIMS ASTER Glacier Footprints
View approximately 150,000
ASTER browse images over regions of the world where glaciers exist
(from 2000-present)
GLIMS
ASTER glacier footprints file (KMZ, 4 KB)
Data Source: GLIMS Glacier Database; Terra
ASTER Metadata Inventory, EROS |
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Greenland
Annual Surface Melt, 1979 - 2007
View the extent and frequency
of surface melt for the Greenland ice sheet
Greenland
melt file for Google Earth (KMZ,
404 KB)
Data Source: Greenland Ice Sheet
Melt Characteristics Derived from Passive Microwave Data |
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Icebergs:
IceTrek Iceberg Tracks
Explore the lifecycle of drifting
Antarctic icebergs, and view photos from instruments riding on
the bergs
IceTrek
iceberg tracks file (KMZ, 6.7 MB)
Data Source: IceTrek Web site |
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Ice
Shelves: Breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf
Watch the disintegration of
the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002, as captured in MODIS satellite
images
Larsen
B ice shelf file for Google Earth (KMZ, 3 MB)
Data Source: Animation
of Larsen B breakup
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Permafrost, Ground Ice
View permafrost and ground ice types
and extents in the Northern Hemisphere
Glaciers and permafrost file for Google Earth (KML, 8 KB)
Data Source: Circum-Arctic Map of
Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions |
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Sea Ice: Daily Concentration and Extent (AMSR-E Sensor)
View the extent and concentration
of sea ice for a recent period:
Past 30
Days (KML, 46 KB)
Past 60 Days (KML,
84 KB)
Past 90 Days (KML,
122 KB)
Data Source: AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3
12.5 km Brightness Temperature, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow
Depth Polar Grids
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Sea Ice: Daily Concentration and Extent (SSM/I Sensor)
View the extent and concentration
of sea ice for a recent period:
Past 30
Days (KML, 4 KB)
Past 60 Days (KML,
4 KB)
Past 90 Days (KML,
4 KB)
Data Source: Near-Real-Time SSM/I-SSMIS EASE-Grid Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent
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Sea
Ice: Daily Concentration, July - September 2007
View daily sea ice concentration
for the two months leading up to the record Arctic sea ice minimum
extent in September 2007
NISE
daily sea ice concentration, July 16 - September 16, 2007 file (KMZ,
612 KB)
Data Source: Near-Real-Time SSM/I EASE-Grid
Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent (NISE)
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Sea
Ice: Minimum and Maximum Extents
View Arctic and Antarctic sea
ice extents from 1979 through present for months March and September
(animated data time series)
Sea ice extents
file for Google Earth (KMZ, 481 KB)
Data Source: Sea Ice Index |
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Sea
Ice: Nordic Seas Ice Edge
View changes in the sea ice
edge in the Nordic Seas, from 1967 to 2002, for the months March
through August.
Nordic
Seas ice edge (KML, 892 KB)
Data Source: March through August
Ice Edge Positions in the Nordic Seas, 1750-2002 |
Locate Cryospheric Field Data
Sets on the Globe
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