NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC)
Data Updates
The SnowEx21 Prairie Station Digital Surface Models from UAV-LiDAR, Version 1 data set, available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated. A high resolution orthomosaic GeoTIFF derived from UAV-Lidar collected on 21 January 2021 has been added to the data set.
Data set DOI: https://doi.org/10.5067/2JA2F0NF99TF
The Near Real-time SMAP L1B Radiometer Half-Orbit Time-Ordered Brightness Temperatures, Version 105, and Near Real-time SMAP L2 Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture, Version 107 data sets at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) have been updated.
The EASE Grids Ancillary Grid Information, Version 1 and the Polar Stereographic Ancillary Grid Information, Version 1 data sets available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) have been updated. This update includes minor changes to the metadata and attributes to be more in line with NSIDC's netCDF guidelines.
EASE Grids Ancillary Grid Information, Version 1
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is pleased to announce the release of two new data products based on the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2):
AMSR2 Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures, Version 1
AMSR2 Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations, Version 1
The Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature ESDR, Version 2 data set, available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated to include Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) data from 2012 to present, and is now being updated daily.
The Near Real-Time MODIS/Terra L3 Global Daily 500m SIN Grid Snow Cover, Grain Size, and Dust Radiative Forcing, Version 1 data set, available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated. Spatial coverage has been expanded to include two tiles over the South Island in New Zealand. The temporal coverage has also been extended.
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) has learned that the Department of Defense (DoD) has extended processing and delivery of Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) data through 31 July 2025. See the Earthdata: Status Update on DMSP Data Products for further details.
This extension applies to the following NSIDC DAAC-produced data sets that rely on SSMIS data as input:
Updates to the NASA AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified data sets, available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), will cease on 01 September 2025. After this date, the NASA AMSR2 SIPS will stop processing and delivering updates to these datasets. If you currently utilize automated workflows to access new AMSR Unified data from NSIDC DAAC, please note these workflows will cease to function after this date. Additionally, no further reprocessing of existing AMSR Unified datasets can be expected.
Update: DMSP SSMIS data processing has been extended through 31 July 2025. See the Earthdata: Status Update on DMSP Data Products for further details.
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is pleased to announce performance improvements to the OpenAltimetry web application. These updates include:
Version 7 of the ICESat-2 Quick Look products will be available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) on June 17th, 2025 only on NASA Earthdata Cloud. Shortly after the publication of Version 7, forward processing of Version 6 will end on June 18.
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) will add 18 VIIRS Collection 2 data sets to NASA Earthdata Cloud on 24 June 2025. Earthdata Cloud is NASA’s archive of Earth observations, hosted in Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Earthdata Cloud HTTPS data access URL will be available from each data set landing page using the HTTPS File System link under Data Access & Tools after the publication date.
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) will add 21 data sets from the SMAP Ancillary collection to NASA Earthdata Cloud on 24 June 2025. Earthdata Cloud, NASA’s archive of Earth observations, is hosted in Amazon Web Services (AWS). These data sets will be available via their current URLs and workflows until 22 September 2025.
Recent delivery from the US Navy of the SSMIS passive microwave data that several sea ice and brightness temperature products use has become more sporadic. The Defense Department has informed NSIDC that they will reduce the priority of processing the SSMIS data, resulting in likely daily data gaps. NSIDC will explore switching to a different sensor, the JAXA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2). However, this transition will take time. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this transition.
Access to ICESat-2 data sets in the legacy, on-premises archive at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) will be retired on July 15, 2025. The NASA Earthdata Cloud is now the primary data archive for ICESat-2 data. Transformation services are available for select data sets through NASA Earthdata Harmony.
The Operation IceBridge Portal and IceFlow NSIDC Data Tutorial notebooks will be retired by June 30, 2025, as part of NSIDC DAAC's transition to NASA Earthdata Cloud. These tools rely on underlying components that will be decommissioned during this transition. Access to both tools will become limited starting June 11, 2025.
The Bootstrap Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS, Version 4 data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated to include new data through 31 December 2024. This data set consists of daily and monthly sea ice concentrations derived from brightness temperature measurements. This data set is available for the north and south polar regions, with a temporal coverage extending back to 1 November 1978.
Access to Aquarius data sets in the legacy, on-premises archive at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) will be retired on 1 July 2025. The NASA Earthdata Cloud is now the primary data archive for Aquarius data. If you currently access data through the legacy, on-premises archive, including through the HTTPS File System or through the Earthdata Search Stage for Delivery (ECHO Orders) option, please update your data access workflows and scripts to use the Earthdata Cloud archive.
Access to MODIS Collection 6.1 and MODIS related data sets in the legacy, on-premises archive at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) will be retired on 19 August 2025. The NASA Earthdata Cloud is now the primary data archive for MODIS Collection 6.1 and MODIS related data. If you currently access data through the legacy, on-premises archive, including through the HTTPS File System or Earthdata Search Stage for Delivery (ECHO Orders), please update your data access workflows and scripts to use the Earthdata Cloud archive.