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

Enabling researchers and data users to better understand how changes in the cryosphere impact our planet.

Catch up on news and stories about how NSIDC DAAC data are being used in research, as well as spotlights on how you can use the data, tools and resources we offer. If you are using NSIDC DAAC data in your research, teaching, or some other way, let us know and we may feature your work in our next article. Share your story with us today.

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This plot shows global snow class climatology, with no snow in red, ephemeral snow in orange, transitional snow in yellow, seasonal snow in green, and perennial snow in blue.

Using MODIS data to visualize the presence or absence of snow on a global scale

The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) manages a range of MODIS data, making a suite of snow cover and sea ice data products freely accessible to the public. These data can be used to investigate how snow and ice cover have changed over time, to study Earth’s energy balance, and to feed global and polar climate models. Recently, the NSIDC DAAC published a new MODIS data set, MODIS/Terra Global Annual 0.01Deg CMG Snow Cover Climatology, Version 1. This data set focuses on global snow cover climatology from 2001 to 2023 using data from the Terra satellite and presents information using global maps.

The CAL FIRE Nevada Yuba Placer Unit clears roads among other rescue tasks

Quenching the arid West with record snowfall: The tools behind snow data

The 2023 winter brought record snowfall to California and other parts of the western United States, but unlike rain, snowfall is much more nuanced in its properties. Getting accurate snow depth data over a wide area is not easy. Read more about the challenges of garnering snow data and the tools behind snow data.

OpenAltimetry screenshot with polar projection

OpenAltimetry elevates data access

NASA’s OpenAltimetry tool allows experienced and new users alike to quickly find and download elevation data through a web browser without the need for costly software or hefty computational resources.

Glaciers, or accumulations of ice and snow that slowly flow over land, are disappearing as the planet heats up because of climate change. In this image, melt from a glacier extending from the Juneau Icefield in Alaska forms braided streams as the glacier retreats. The Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative is working to document disappearing glaciers.

Showcasing the death of the world’s glaciers

Melting glaciers and ice sheets are already the biggest contributors to global sea level rise. Yet, of the approximately 200,000 glaciers in the world currently, no database exists to identify which glaciers have disappeared, and when. The Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) initiative, an international project designed to monitor the world's glaciers primarily using data from optical satellite instruments, aims to change that.

NSIDC celebrates 30 years as a NASA Distributed Active Archive Center

In 1993, NASA contracted the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder to steward snow- and ice-related data, forming the NSIDC DAAC. The year 2023 marks 30 years that NSIDC has operated the NASA snow and ice DAAC.

NASA is moving their Earth science data over to the Earthdata Cloud, a commercial cloud environment hosted in Amazon Web Services. This illustration reflects that move

Cooking up collaborative resources on how to use the Earthdata Cloud

As NASA moves their Earth science data over to the Earthdata Cloud, a commercial cloud environment hosted in Amazon Web Services, the NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) are shoring up resources to help users adopt a cloud-based workflow as smoothly as possible. One such resource is the NASA Earthdata Cloud Cookbook, a learning-oriented resource to support scientific researchers who use NASA Earth data as NASA migrates data to the cloud.

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