Data Announcements

Multiple Level-1B, Level-2A, and Level-3A data sets from the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission have been updated to Version 4 at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). These data sets provide: telemetry data; geolocated photon data; backscatter profiles; atmospheric layer characteristics; and geolocated surface elevations for land ice, land and vegetation, and ocean surface.

The High Mountain Asia Global Debris Thickness Estimates and Sub-Debris Melt Factors, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains spatially distributed estimates of the debris thickness and sub-debris melt enhancement factors for every debris-covered glacier in the Randolph Glacier Inventory Version 6, excluding the ice sheets and Antarctic Periphery.

The IceBridge CAMBOT L1B Geolocated Images, Version 2 data set has been updated to include data from the 2019: Arctic, Arctic summer, and Antarctic campaigns, extending the temporal coverage from 10 October 2018 through 20 November 2019 at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains high-resolution imagery taken with the Continuous Airborne Mapping By Optical Translator (CAMBOT) system over Antarctica and Greenland.

The SnowEx20 Cameron Pass Ground Penetrating Radar, Version 1 is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains the results of ground-penetrating radar surveys conducted at Cameron Pass, Colorado during the SnowEx20 campaign. Data include two-way travel time, pit-measured snow density, calculated snow depth, and calculated snow water equivalent. Data set DOI: https://doi.org/10.5067/U4Q3X27BMRR4  

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the NOAA@NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 3 data set has been updated to include the time period of 01 January 2020 through 31 December 2020, with the exception of 28 August 2020 which had bad data, so that date is not included in the update.

The IceBridge UAF L1B HF Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains radar echograms acquired by the University of Alaska Fairbanks High-Frequency Radar Sounder over select glaciers in Alaska from 22 March 2013 through 16 August 2016.

The IceBridge ARES L1B Geolocated Radar Echo Strength Profiles, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains radar echograms acquired by the Arizona Radio-Echo Sounder (ARES) over select glaciers in Alaska from 26 August 2015 through 06 June 2020. This data set is being made available as an early release, and minimal documentation is currently available.

The Sea Ice Trends and Climatologies from SMMR and SSM/I-SSMIS, Version 3 data set, available from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been extended through 31 December 2020. This data set contains sea ice concentrations, ice-covered area, ice persistence, and sea ice extent for the Arctic and Antarctic.

The Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 1 data set, accessible from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 31 December 2020. This data set is generated from brightness temperature data and is designed to provide a consistent time series of sea ice concentrations spanning the coverage of several passive microwave instruments.

The Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 1 data set, accessible from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 31 December 2020. This data set is generated from brightness temperature data and is designed to provide a consistent time series of sea ice concentrations spanning the coverage of several passive microwave instruments.

The Bootstrap Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS, Version 3 data set, available through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 31 December 2020. 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 26 October 1978.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the International Ice Patrol (IIP) has updated their annual count of icebergs south of 48 degrees North through the 2020 iceberg season. Every year during the ice season, the IIP surveys icebergs in the vicinity of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland within the western Atlantic Ocean and issues daily iceberg charts. The number that drift south of 48° N is significant because these pose a larger threat to transatlantic shipping. The annual count is an indicator of the severity of the iceberg season and its impact on mariners in the region.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the International Ice Patrol (IIP) has updated their Iceberg Sightings Database through the 2020 iceberg season. The IIP has been collecting information on iceberg activity in the North Atlantic since 1913, and this database contains data from these sightings starting in 1960. The IIP data files include latitude and longitude of sighted icebergs, coded iceberg size and shape class, and date and time of the sighting.

Selected SMAP Level-1, -2, and -3 data sets, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), can now be subsetted for a spatial area defined by a shapefile, KML/KMZ, or GeoJSON. This service can be invoked via NASA Earthdata Search or via programmatic access. The following help articles describe all the customization services currently available for these SMAP data sets and give instructions on data access through NASA Earthdata Search or programmatically:

The High Mountain Asia Rasterized PyGEM Glacier Projections with RCP Scenarios, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains a rasterized (gridded) version of the glacier point data from the Python Glacier Evolution Model (PyGEM).

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of sea ice chart data resulting from collaboration with the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) called the U.S. National Ice Center Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Concentration and Climatologies in Gridded Format. On a weekly basis, USNIC produces analyst-drawn Arctic- and Antarctic-wide charts that have information on sea ice concentration, stage of development, and form. These charts characterize ice with a level of detail and accuracy that is unmatched by satellite data-derived products.

The DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures, Version 5 data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 1 January 2021. This will be the last update provided in binary data format. This data set will transition to netCDF data format with the next update. All existing data in this data set will also be converted to netCDF.

Newly re-processed SMAP Level-1, -2, -3, and -4 data sets, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), contain antenna scan angle (ASA) errors. ASA errors affected a large number of data files between 05 Oct and 23 Nov 2019, as well as a handful of dates within 2020 (04 and 05 Feb, 09 Apr, 30 May, and 18 Jun). These bad data are not currently identified by data quality flags. The ASA errors disrupt the proper geolocation of half-orbits, which may be off by as much as 99 km in the along scan direction.

The LVIS L1A Geotagged Images, Version 1 data set has been updated at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) to now include data from engineering test flights held on 07 November 2018 and 31 January 2019 over sites in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. This data set contains geotagged images taken by two NASA Digital Mapping Cameras, which were mounted alongside the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), an airborne lidar scanning laser altimeter.

The DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Pathfinder Daily EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, Version 2 data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 31 December 2020. This will be the final update for this data set. Data will remain online until the data set is retired at the end of 2021.