• NSIDC's website will undergo planned maintenance on Wednesday, January 15, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (U.S. Mountain Time). During this time, the NSIDC.org website and most NSIDC data access may be briefly unavailable.

Welcome to the National Snow and Ice Data Center

Advancing knowledge of Earth's frozen regions since 1976

Stay current with our expert analyses

Sea ice in all types of shapes
Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets
skiers drop in from a cliff in Silverton, Colorado
Analysis - Ice Sheets Today
January 8, 2025
Widespread coastal melting occurred in Antarctica through the second half of December and is continuing in the first few days of the new year in several areas. Nearly every region with routine surface snowmelt has had more days of melt than is typical for this time of year.

Data, research & analysis updates

Data Announcement
SMAP data are currently experiencing a data outage. The SMAP Science Data Systems (SDS), located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, is closed and unable to process data
Analysis - Ice Sheets Today
Widespread coastal melting occurred in Antarctica through the second half of December and is continuing in the first few days of the new year in several areas. Nearly every region with routine surface snowmelt has had more days of melt than is typical for this time of year.

Data management programs at NSIDC

A satellite view of Malaspina Glacier in Alaska

NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC)

Open access cryosphere and related geophysical data from NASA Earth-observing satellite missions, airborne campaigns, and field observations.
methane bubbles frozen in lake in Canada

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at NSIDC

A NOAA-funded program providing open access data from satellites, field instruments, weather stations, historical records, and rescued data.
Billy Adams observes the environment from the ice lead edge near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. This photo is part of an observation record in the AAOKH online database developed by ELOKA. Credit: Mette Kaufman

Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA): Data Curation for Indigenous Communities

Working with Indigenous communities in the Arctic to preserve and promote their data and knowledge for use in scientific studies.