Our Research

A new study from the international Arctic Rain on Snow Study (AROSS), led by NSIDC, zooms out for an Arctic-wide perspective on how often precipitation falls as snow or rain, and how snow-to-rain ratios are changing.

A moderately intense melt season for the Greenland Ice Sheet has continued in July, with an extended period of high temperatures and coastal melting in mid-July where nearly half of the ice sheet experienced melt.

Arctic sea ice extent tracked at near-record low levels through much of June, hitting daily record low levels from June 20 to 26. Antarctic sea ice averaged third lowest for the month of June. There have been unrecoverable gaps in delivered sea ice data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMI/S). Since the the SSMIS data feed will end July 31, the team will be switching to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2) passive microwave sensor as the primary data source.

Using decades of satellite snow data from NASA’s NSIDC DAAC, researchers discovered that caribou in the Bathurst herd begin their epic migration just days after Arctic snowmelt begins—revealing a striking and consistent link between thawing landscapes and animal movement. The study highlights how high-resolution, open-access data is uncovering vital patterns in wildlife behavior amid a rapidly changing climate.