About the DAAC

The NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) processes, archives, documents, and distributes data from NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites, airborne campaigns, and field measurement programs. The NSIDC DAAC focuses on the cryosphere and related topics, including snow, sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, frozen ground, soil moisture, and climate interactions.

The NSIDC DAAC is part of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). The DAACs, managed by NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System Project (ESDIS), offer thousands of Earth system science data products and associated services to a wide community of users. Each DAAC serves one or more specific Earth science disciplines and provides its user community with data products, data information, user services, and tools unique to its particular science.

The NSIDC DAAC is a CoreTrustSeal certified Regular Member of the World Data System, an Interdisciplinary Body of the International Science Council (ISC; formerly ICSU). The NSIDC is one of 12 DAACs that form the network of organizations which the ESDIS Project represents as a Network Member of the WDS.

User Working Group

The NSIDC DAAC has a User Working Group (UWG) of scientists from the fields of research that the DAAC serves. The working group also includes the DAAC Scientist, the NASA Cryosphere Scientist, and the EOSDIS Project Scientist.

Objectives of the UWG:

• Provide ongoing guidance to the DAAC regarding data holdings, system capabilities, documentation, data formats, and communications procedures which serve the needs of the scientific community.
• Recommend and implement a strategy for prioritization of data holdings and level of support to be provided by the DAAC to the user community.
• Serve as a community representative testing ground to evaluate the effectiveness of procedures and protocols for surveying DAAC data holdings, and ordering and acquiring data sets in an efficient manner.

Feedback may be sent to the UWG Chair, Dr. Gina Henderson (ghenders@usna.edu), or DAAC UWG Coordinator Donna Scott (dscott@nsidc.org) at NSIDC.

Current Membership