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2009

10 December 2009

Processing of the following data sets is temporarily suspended due to the recent loss of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F-13 satellite:

DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures
DMSP SSM/I Daily and Monthly Polar Gridded Bootstrap Sea Ice Concentrations
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I Passive Microwave Data
Bootstrap Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I
DMSP SSM/I Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures

NSIDC is working with our data source, Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), to acquire data for these products from the DMSP F-17 satellite. We hope to have the data processed and available by late Spring 2010.

In the meantime, F-17 data are available for the following near-real-time data sets:
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures

07 December 2009

The Antarctic Glaciological Data Center (AGDC) at NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of a new data set, Methane Isotopes from the WAIS Divide Ice Core (NSIDC-0435). This data set includes depth, gas age, and the isotopic composition of methane (∂13C and ∂D of CH4) from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core, WDC05A, in Antarctica.

For more information on Antarctic data from AGDC, see the AGDC Data Catalog Web page at http://nsidc.org/agdc/data.html.

30 November 2009

On 16 November 2009, ROCS hosted a meeting of the managers of Campus Cultural Collections to discuss an emergency action plan for the special materials held in the NSIDC archives. Special guests for this meeting were representatives from Huntington T. Block, a company that provides insurance coverage for fine arts and other collections held at CU. The meeting was devoted to issues including where to find large freezers in an emergency, establishing an official emergency campus network, and formalizing the group within CU. Large freezers, an important part of disaster recovery involving water, either from a leak, a flood, or from fire prevention, are important for saving paper-based materials because it is very important to freeze the wet items within 48 hours. The freezers were located and found to be very close to NSIDC, so in case of an emergency, the materials can be moved quickly. The meeting was very successful in creating a plan of action in case of an emergency.

16 November 2009

On Wednesday, 18 November 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to noon (USA Mountain Time), data access via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) will be unavailable due to NSIDC FTP server maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience

10 November 2009

The AMSR-E Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) team re-initialized the multi-year sea ice mask on 05 October 2009 for Version 11 (V11) of the AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 12.5 km Brightness Temperatures, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow Depth Polar Grids (AE_SI12) product.

Re-initializing the multi-year sea ice mask will ensure that the “Snow Depth on Sea Ice” parameter in the Northern Hemisphere is correct for the 2009/2010 winter sea ice season. The error in the Northern Hemisphere “Snow Depth on Sea Ice” parameter has not been corrected in data for previous sea ice seasons; therefore, users should exercise caution when working with the Northern Hemisphere "Snow Depth on Sea Ice" parameter in data using the V11 algorithm prior to 05 October 2009. Algorithm V12 will be implemented in the near future and AE_SI12 data for the entire AMSR-E mission will be reprocessed, correcting the "Snow Depth on Sea Ice" parameter. Registered users will be notified when V12 is installed and reprocessing begins.

If you have questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.

29 October 2009

Every month, NSIDC features a data set or important program at NSIDC. For October, the Glacier Photograph Collection is featured. To read the full article, see the NISDC Monthly Highlights Web page.

29 October 2009

Florence Fetterer, NOAA@NSIDC program manager, and Ann Windnagel, NOAA@NSIDC team member, attended the Science Ice Exercise (SCICEX) Science Advisory Committee meeting on October 5th and 6th in Washington, DC. SCICEX is a project that utilizes Navy nuclear-powered submarines to obtain scientific measurements of the Arctic Sea such as ice draft profiles; physical, chemical, and biological water properties; and bathymetry. Fetterer and Windnagel attended the meeting to give presentations about data management at NSIDC describing how the services NSIDC provides would benefit the SCICEX program. The goal is to acquire funding to archive and distribute SCICEX data at NSIDC.

19 October 2009

NSIDC has recently updated the following sea ice concentration data sets:
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and SSM/I DMSP Passive Microwave Data - Preliminary
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations

In the past, sea ice concentrations for near-real-time and preliminary sea ice data did not include concentrations below 15 percent. However, to be more consistent with the final sea ice concentration data NSIDC receives from the Goddard Space Flight Center, and to provide users with all possible data values, we have reprocessed the data to include concentrations below 15 percent. Data users should not see any changes in the sea ice data they currently have with concentrations above 15 percent.

For access to updated data, please refer to the data set Web page links listed above.

15 October 2009

Both the AMSR-E/Aqua Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures and AMSR-E/Aqua Daily Global Quarter-Degree Gridded Brightness Temperatures data sets have been updated. This quarterly update extends the time series of both data sets through 30 September 2009. This includes data in all three EASE-Grid projections (north, south, and global) as well as global quarter-degree latitude-longitude gridded data.

12 October 2009

NOAA@NSIDC has released the Canadian Ice Service Arctic Regional Sea Ice Charts in SIGRID-3 Format data set. The Canadian Ice Service (CIS) produces digital Arctic regional sea ice charts for marine navigation, climate research, and input to the Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank (GDSIDB) on a daily basis. The ice charts are created through the manual analysis of in situ, satellite, and aerial reconnaissance data. This data set begins in 2006 and is updated approximately once a week. The regions this data set covers are the Northern and Southern Canadian Waters. The charts are distributed as vector shapefiles in SIGRID-3 format. The SIGRID-3 vector file format is a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ice chart archive format developed by the operational ice services and NSIDC. The International Ice Charting Working Group (IICWG) and the GDSIDB promote archiving and distributing ice charts for the use of researchers. For more information or to access the data, see the Canadian Ice Service Arctic Regional Sea Ice Charts in SIGRID-3 Format Summary page.

12 October 2009

The NSIDC Antarctic Glaciological Data Center (AGDC) has published a new data set, US ITASE Stable Isotope Data, Antarctica (NSIDC-0425). The data set includes stable isotope data from snow pits, firn, and ice cores collected by the the US component of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition ( ITASE), between 1999 and 2007. Currently, data from 1999 and 2000 are available. Data from 20001 to 2007 will be added as they become available.

For more information on Antarctic data from AGDC, see the AGDC Data Catalog Web page at http://nsidc.org/agdc/data.html.

12 October 2009

NSIDC has adjusted the algorithm used in the Near-Real-Time SSM/I-SSMIS EASE-Grid Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent (NISE) Version 4 product. A sea ice concentration threshold of 15 percent had been introduced in NISE Version 4, so that pixels with a sea ice concentration of 14 percent or less were assigned a value of 255, or ocean. After further analysis, we have determined that removing this threshold will provide greater consistency with NISE Version 2 data. All NISE Version 4 data have been reprocessed using this modified algorithm.

For access to updated data and documentation, please refer to the NISE product catalog page.

23 September 2009

During September and early October 2009, NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) data users will receive an e-mail invitation from CFI Group on behalf of NASA to participate in a Web-based survey about the quality and utility of NSIDC DAAC products and services. It takes approximately ten minutes to complete this anonymous questionnaire. Your feedback affects our future performance and helps us identify user and science needs. The NSIDC DAAC is one of twelve NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data centers evaluated by this survey.

If you have not received an email and would like to participate, please contact the CFI group.

11 September 2009

NSIDC would like to report an error currently in two near-real-time data products: the Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures and the Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures. A calibration problem in the F17 37H GHz channel is causing a bias of 3 to 4 Kelvin lower than should be reported for the 37H GHz channel. This bias is occurring in the data from 01 April 2009 through 15 August 2009. Channels other than the 37H GHz, and data outside of this time range, are not impacted. These data products will be updated as soon as we receive the corrected data from our data source.

09 September 2009

The Antarctic Glaciological Data Center (AGDC) at NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of a new data set, Digital Imaging for Siple Dome Ice Core Analysis, Antarctica. The data set contains high-resolution images of sections from the Siple Dome A ice core, in TIFF and JPG formats.

02 September 2009

As of 01 September 2009, the processing stream for the Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures data set has been switched from the SSM/I sensor on board the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13 satellite to the SSMIS sensor on the DMSP-F17 satellite.

This change was necessary due to the F13 satellite nearing the end of its mission. For more documentation and data access, refer to the Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures Web page.

28 August 2009

As of 28 August 2009, the processing stream for the Near-Real-Time Ice and Snow Extent (NISE) product has been switched from the SSM/I sensor on board the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13 satellite to the SSMIS sensor on the DMSP-F17 satellite. This change was necessary due to the F13 satellite nearing the end of its mission. For more information and data access, refer to the Near-Real-Time SSM/I-SSMIS EASE-Grid Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent Web page.

05 August 2009

The Antarctic Glaciological Data Center (AGDC) at NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of new data sets. For a complete listing of AGDC data, see the AGDC Data Catalog. The newly released AGDC data sets include the following:

Late Holocene Climate Variability, Dry Valleys, Antarctica  (NSIDC-0399)
Nitrogen and Oxygen Gas Isotopes in the Siple Dome and Byrd Ice Cores, Antarctica  (NSIDC-0407)
Gases in Firn Air and Shallow Ice at the WAIS Drilling Site, Antarctica  (NSIDC-0412)

03 August 2009

The AMSR-E sea ice team has notified NSIDC of an error with the "Snow Depth on Sea Ice" parameter in the AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 12.5 km Brightness Temperatures, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow Depth Polar Grids (AE_SI12). The method of applying the dynamic multi-year ice mask used for the "Snow Depth on Sea Ice" parameter is causing large areas of the Arctic to be erroneously masked. This error does not affect the "Snow Depth on Sea Ice" parameter in the Antarctic. The sea ice team is working with the AMSR-E Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) at the Global Hydrology Resource Center to determine a solution. The solution will be implemented in the V12 algorithm, and the SIPS will reprocess data from the entire AMSR-E mission. Since the sea ice concentration parameters are not affected, NSIDC will continue to distribute the AE_SI12 product with the V11 algorithm until reprocessing with the V12 algorithm is complete. Users should not work with the Northern Hemisphere "Snow Depth on Sea Ice" parameter in data using the V11 algorithm. Registered users will be notified when the V12 algorithm is implemented and reprocessing begins. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you have questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.

27 July 2009

Reprocessing is now complete for the following AMSR-E Level 3 products:

Land Product:
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 Surface Soil Moisture, Interpretive Parms, & QC EASE-Grids (AE_Land3)
Algorithm: Validated 06

Sea Ice Products:
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 6.25 km 89 GHz Brightness Temperature Polar Grids (AE_SI6)
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 12.5 km Brightness Temperatures, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow Depth Polar Grids (AE_SI12)
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 25 km Brightness Temperatures & Sea Ice Concentration Polar Grids (AE_SI25)
Algorithm: Validated 11

Snow Products:
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids (AE_DySno)
AMSR-E/Aqua 5-Day L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids (AE_5DSno)
AMSR-E/Aqua Monthly L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids (AE_MoSno)
Algorithm: Validated 09

All data from 19 June 2002, the beginning of the AMSR-E mission, through the present now use the most up-to-date algorithm. For more information regarding the algorithm history of AMSR-E products, refer to the Data Versions for V002 Web page. For data access and documentation, visit the Data Summaries Web page.

27 July 2009

NSIDC is pleased to announce that reprocessing is complete for AMSR-E/Aqua L2A Global Swath Spatially-Resampled Brightness Temperatures (AE_L2A) and AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L2B Surface Soil Moisture, Interpretive Parms, & QC EASE-Grids (AE_Land) data products. AE_L2A data using the Validated 10 - Stage 3 algorithm, and AE_Land data using the Validated 09 - Stage 1 algorithm, are now available from 19 June 2002 (the beginning of the AMSR-E mission) through the present. More information regarding the algorithm history of AMSR-E products is available on the Data Versions for V002 Web page.

21 July 2009

The Glacier Photograph Collection has a new Search & Order Web interface. A complete redesign of the old interface has been implemented as well changes to the overall appearance of the Web site. The new Search & Order interface provides a more streamlined and efficient way for users to query the Glacier Photograph Collection database. Users can search for glaciers by spatial coverage and temporal range as well as by glacier name or by photographer. Users also now have the option of running multiple searches before placing an order. To access the new interface, see the Glacier Photograph Collection Web site.

16 July 2009

The AMSR-E/Aqua Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures and AMSR-E/Aqua Daily Global Quarter-Degree Gridded Brightness Temperatures data sets have been updated. This update extends the time series of both data sets through 30 June 2009. These data sets remain in Version 3.

15 July 2009

Data are now available through 31 December 2008 for the Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I Passive Microwave data set. These data will remain online until NSIDC receives the Final data from the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

For information regarding this data set, or to access data via FTP, please visit the link provided above.

10 July 2009

The DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures data set has been updated through 31 December 2008. With this update, a new version of the source data was used in the gridded brightness temperature processing. Due to this, all files beginning 01 July 2008 are now Version 3. Data remain Version 2 prior to 01 July 2008. For more information regarding the differences between the Version 2 and Version 3 files, refer to the Detailed Data Description section in the data set documentation. Data set documentation and FTP data are accessible via the product catalog page.

08 July 2009

On 17 July 2009, the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Daily L3 Global 500m Grid (MOD10A1) Version 4 (V004) snow data product will be removed from NSIDC's archive. NSIDC will retain a small amount of MODIS V004 data from this data set for use in comparisons with other data versions. This is referred to as the Golden Month. The Golden Month covers the time period 29 August 2002 (day of year 241) through 7 October 2002 (day of year 280).

For access to the V004 Golden Month data, contact NSIDC User Services.

16 June 2009

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of a new data set: Recurring Spring Leads and Landfast Ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, 1993-2004. This data set contains information on recurring spring leads and landfast ice extent in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas from 1993 to 2004. The data set uses data acquired from the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Radarsat-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). The data is provided in a number of formats including ArcGIS geodatabases and shapefiles. For more information about this data set and to obtain the data, see the Recurring Spring Leads and Landfast Ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, 1993-2004 summary page.

10 June 2009

Information and statistics on 157 glaciers from the Huasco Catchment in Chile have been added to the World Glacier Inventory. The information was provided by The Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA) in Chile. To search for these glaciers, select CEAZA from the Data Contributor pull-down menu from the World Glacier Inventory Search Web page. More information about this update is available in the Quality Assessment and History of Updates section of the World Glacier Inventory guide document.

08 June 2009

NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of Validated 11 (V11-Stage 1) AMSR-E Level-3 sea ice products as of 29 May 2009.

The algorithm for V11 corrected an error introduced in the V10 algorithm which caused the snow depth on sea ice parameter to be overestimated by a factor of approximately two. Although AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 12.5 km Brightness Temperature, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow Depth Polar Grids (AE_SI12) is the only product with the affected parameter, all AMSR-E sea ice products use the same production code and will therefore be processed with the V11 algorithm.

AMSR-E Level-3 sea ice products include the following:
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 6.25 km 89 GHz Brightness Temperature Polar Grids (AE_SI6)
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 12.5 km Brightness Temperature, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow Depth Polar Grids (AE_SI12)
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 25 km Brightness Temperature & Sea Ice Concentration Polar Grids (AE_SI25)

05 June 2009

NSIDC has officially switched its processing stream for near-real-time passive microwave brightness temperatures from the SSM/I sensor on board the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13 satellite to the SSMIS sensor on the DMSP-F17 satellite. This change in the processing stream was necessary due to a failing recorder on F13. At this time, the following products have been processed back to 10 May 2009 using F17 data:

Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations
Sea Ice Index

For more information regarding the processing of these products, refer to the data set documentation via the links above.

02 June 2009

As of 1 June 2009, the following Version 4 MODIS snow and sea ice data products have been removed from NSIDC's archive:

Version 4 Snow Products:
MOD10L2: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m
MYD10L2: MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover 5-Min L2 Swath 500m
MOD10A2: MODIS/Terra Snow Cover 8-day L3 Global 500m Grid
MYD10A2: MODIS/Aqua Snow Cover 8-Day L3 Global 500m Grid

Version 4 Sea Ice Product:
MYD29: MODIS/Aqua Sea Ice Extent 5-Min L2 Swath 1km

NSIDC will retain a small amount of MODIS Version 4 data from each data set for use in comparisons with other data versions. This is referred to as a golden month. The golden month covers the time period 29 August 2002 (day of year 241) through 7 October 2002 (day of year 280).

For access to the Version 4 golden month data, contact NSIDC User Services. Version 5 of the above data products will remain available.

20 May 2009

NSIDC has a new URL (ftp://sidads.colorado.edu/pub/metadata/) to access our Web Accessible Metadata Folder, which contains on-line XML files representing our metadata holdings.

The XML files, available in both DIF and FGDC formats, are updated on a daily basis. These metadata files are provided to allow other organizations to regularly harvest our metadata collection for inclusion in data discovery and access portals. If you currently obtain metadata via our Web Accessible Metadata Folder, please confirm that you are using the new URL (ftp://sidads.colorado.edu/pub/metadata/).

20 May 2009

Beginning 10 June 2009, Version 1 AMSR-E data will no longer be available from NSIDC. Version 1 data will remain available for ordering until 10 June 2009 through the Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST), Data Pool, or the Search 'n Order Web Interface (SNOWI). NSIDC currently distributes both Version 1 and Version 2 AMSR-E products. AMSR-E Version 2 products use the most up-to-date algorithms.

15 May 2009

Due to insuficient data received, the MODIS/Terra Snow Cover Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG, Version 5 (MOD10CM) data product is missing the following granules:

June 2001
March 2002
December 2003.

13 May 2009

Reprocessing has begun for the following AMSR-E Level-3 Land, Sea Ice, and Snow data products:

Land Product
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 Surface Soil Moisture, Interpretive Parameters, & QC EASE-Grids (AE_Land3)
Algorithm: Validated 06

Sea Ice Products
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 6.25 km 89 GHz Brightness Temperature Polar Grids (AE_SI6)
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 12.5 km Brightness Temperatures, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow Depth Polar Grids (AE_SI12)
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 25 km Brightness Temperatures & Sea Ice Concentration Polar Grids (AE_SI25)
Algorithm: Validated 10

Snow Products
AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids (AE_DySno)
AMSR-E/Aqua 5-Day L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids (AE_5DSno)
AMSR-E/Aqua Monthly L3 Global Snow Water Equivalent EASE-Grids (AE_MoSno)
Algorithm: Validated 09

Data from 19 June 2002, the date the AMSR-E mission began, through the present will be reprocessed. Another announcement will be posted when reprocessing is complete.

13 May 2009

Users of the NSIDC Antarctic Cryosphere Access Portal (A-CAP) can now save maps and download the source data for each of the layers displayed in the map. See the A-CAP News Web page for more information.

01 May 2009

The processing environment for the Graphical Interface for Subsetting, Mapping, and Ordering (GISMO) tool has recently been upgraded. Though we do not anticipate any difficulties, we recommend that users look over GISMO data order results carefully. Please report any issues you experience to NSIDC User Services.

24 April 2009

AMSR/ADEOS-II L2A Global Swath Spatially-Resampled Brightness Temperatures (AA_L2A) Version 1 data are now available from NSIDC. The data are available from 28 January until 24 October 2003, when the satellite was lost, and are restricted to NASA approved users. For information on becoming a NASA-approved user, please go to the Order Data Web page, and refer to the information under the column heading: First Time Users of AMSR/ADEOS-II Data.

23 April 2009

Both the AMSR-E/Aqua Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures and AMSR-E/Aqua Daily Global Quarter-Degree Gridded Brightness Temperatures data sets have been updated. This update extends the time series of both data sets to 31 March 2009. The data in this update are still considered Version 3.

17 April 2009

Due to system maintenance from Monday, 20 April 2009 through Thursday, 23 April 2009, NSIDC will not receive MODIS data from our data provider. Once the maintenance period has passed, NSIDC will ingest and archive the missing MODIS data to ensure continual temporal coverage.

14 April 2009

Data are now available through June 2008 for the DMSP SSM/I Daily and Monthly Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations data set. The Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) derived ice concentrations are daily total and monthly-averaged ice fractions for both hemispheres with a temporal coverage record now spanning from June 1987 to June 2008.

08 April 2009

NSIDC is pleased to announce that AMSR-E Soil Moisture Validation data have been updated to include all data sets for the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) campaign. The SMEX03 campaign was conducted in Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama, USA, between 23 June and 18 July 2003, and in Brazil during the first two weeks of December 2003. For data access and documentation, visit the SMEX03 Data Sets Web page.

If you have questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.

06 April 2009

Two recent improvements in tiepoints used in the AMSR-E standard sea ice concentration algorithm may result in a relative change in sea ice area and extent for users working with multiple versions of the data. The effect on the output depends on season and hemisphere, but users may notice a decline in area and extent across the Arctic and an increase in the Antarctic in data with the most recent algorithm. The algorithm changes are reflected in the change from versions B06 to T08 and T08 to V10.

AMSR-E Level-3 sea ice products using the standard sea ice concentration algorithm include the following:

NSIDC encourages users to always work with the latest data (highest version number) available for a given date. Data from 19 June 2002 (start of the AMSR-E mission) to 26 January 2009 will be reprocessed to V10. We will send an announcement when reprocessing begins. More information on versions of AMSR-E data is available at the AMSR-E Versions Web page.

If you have questions, please contact NSIDC User Services.

20 March 2009

The Sea Ice Index has a new look: The redesigned Sea Ice Index Web site makes it easy to see monthly and daily sea ice conditions at a glance, as well as longer term trends in ice extent and concentration from satellite passive microwave data. Images can be displayed on NASA's Blue Marble view of the Earth. The site features tools for browsing and animating data images as well as downloading extent numbers.

12 March 2009

The NSIDC Antarctic Cryosphere Access Portal (A-CAP) now contains Antarctic ice flow velocity data from the VELMAP collection. For more information, see the A-CAP News announcement, Antarctic Ice Velocity Data Now Available through A-CAP.

25 February 2009

Beginning 11 March 2009, NSIDC will no longer offer distribution on hard media (CD-ROM, DVD, DLT) for AMSR-E, MODIS, GLAS, or NISE data sets. Data will only be available via FTP Pull or FTP Push.

For future orders, if you have trouble accessing data via FTP, please contact NSIDC's User Services Office for data access options.

18 February 2009

On 16 February 2009, NSIDC noticed significant problems with the Near-Real-Time (NRT) sea ice product. Upon investigation, the problem was found to be due to an issue with the DMSP F15 SSM/I 22 GHz frequency brightness temperature fields used as inputs into the sea ice algorithm. The problem began around 1 January 2009 and gradually worsened until it became noticeable in the sea ice product. NSIDC is working to correct the issue and provide reliable NRT sea ice data. In the meantime, F15 data since 1 January 2009 should not be used. The data sets affected by this problem are the following: The Sea Ice Index, Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures, and Near-Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations.

18 February 2009

ICESAt/GLAS Release-29 data for the Laser 2B campaign (17 February 2004 to 21 March 2004) are now available for the following products: GLA01 to GLA05 and GLA07 to GLA11.  This covers the atmospheric and engineering products only. The elevation/altimetry data products (GLA06 and GLA12 to GLA15) for Laser 2B are not available at this time. Please see the Release-29 Early Campaigns Altimetry Data Problem description for more information. See the ICESat/GLAS Data Releases Web site for more information and a more complete description of this new release, or contact NSIDC User Services if you have any questions.

2 February 2009

NSIDC data is included in the newest version of Google Earth, launched today. The new Ocean in Google Earth feature contains NSIDC sea ice extent data and photographs showing glaciers shrinking through time. These and other NSIDC data products are also available to Google Earth users online via NSIDC's Virtual Globes Web page.

For more information about Google Earth, contact Google Press. For more information about the NSIDC data included in Google Earth, please contact NSIDC User Services. To contact members of the NSIDC press, please contact Stephanie Renfrow or +1 303.492.1497.

30 January 2009

ICESat/GLAS Release-29 data for the Laser 2A campaign (25 September 2003 to 18 November 2003) are now available for the following products: GLA01 to GLA05 and GLA07 to GLA11.  This covers the atmospheric and engineering products only. The elevation/altimetry data products (GLA06 and GLA12 to GLA15) are not available at this time. Please see the Release-29 Early Campaigns Altimetry Data Problem description for more information. See the ICESat/GLAS Data Releases Web site for more information and a more complete description of this new release, or contact NSIDC User Services if you have any questions.

29 January 2009

NSIDC has released thirteen single- and few-point data sets for access through the AGDC Antarctic Cryosphere Access Portal (A-CAP). These data sets include measurements from snow pits and ice cores across Antarctica. For more information, see the A-CAP news announcement, Single and Few-Point Data Sets Now Available.

26 January 2009

NSIDC is happy to announce our support for the UArctic Atlas, which was released on 23 January 2009. The UArctic Atlas provides a visual and geographic overview of the Arctic region, including its physical environment and socio-cultural life. The Atlas is organized into five general categories such as Natural Resources; Climate, Environment, and Ecosystems; and Peoples, Cultures, and Societies. Within each catagory, you will find various map layers which can be viewed either in a map viewer, in your browser, or opened in Google Earth.

This project was developed by the University of the Arctic, with map layer data provided by a number of partner organizations including NSIDC. One example of the type of data provided by NSIDC is the Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions data set published by our Frozen Ground Data Center. The Atlas links users to the guide document for a particular data set as well as the associated Google Earth compatible files located on our Virtual Globes Web site.

23 January 2009

Production of MODIS Terra and Aqua snow and sea ice products have resumed, and both Terra and Aqua products are almost caught up.

15 January 2009

Due to a hardware failure on 29 December 2008, production of MODIS Terra and Aqua snow and sea ice products have been suspended indefinitely. On 08 January 2009, production of Terra snow and sea ice products resumed and is nearly caught up. Production of Aqua snow and sea ice products have not resumed. The problem is being worked, and we hope for production to resume in the near future.

12 January 2009

Additional data sets are now available from the Antarctic Cryosphere Access Portal (A-CAP). The data sets include elevation and ice thickness in Western Marie Bird Land, and laser altimetry of the Thwaites Glacier Catchment in Western Antarctica. Also, additional ice core locations have been added to the A-CAP Antarctic ice core overlay. For more information, see the A-CAP News Web page.

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