The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is pleased to announce that the Department of Defense (DoD) has agreed to extend processing and delivery of Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) data through 31 July 2025.
The extension applies to NOAA products that rely on SSMIS data as input, including:
- Near-Real-Time NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration
- Sea Ice Index
The NOAA@NSIDC team continues to evaluate alternative data sources, such as AMSR2. The AMSR2 sea ice concentrations are available as a prototype product within the NRT CDR data set with a one-week lag time at https://noaadata.apps.nsidc.org/NOAA/G10016_V3/prototype_amsr2/.
As documented in NSIDC Special Report #27, the SSMIS-using CDR and its AMSR2 corollary are not yet fully intercalibrated. Users will notice differences between the products, as AMSR2's higher resolution provides better ice edge detection than SSMIS. We are developing a new version that will intercalibrate these sensors, though this will take time.
Thank you to those who shared how these data sets impact your work. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.
If you have questions or need to share how this affects your work, please contact us at nsidc@nsidc.org.