NOAA@NSIDC

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Sea Ice Index, Version 3 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated from near-real-time data to final data for the period 01 January 2023 through 31 December 2024.

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:

The National Snow and Ice Data Center was informed on 24 June 2025 that the Department of Defense (DoD) will cease processing and delivering the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) data no later than 30 June 2025. 

Affected Data Products:

The SSMIS data serve as input for the following NOAA@NSIDC data sets, which will therefore stop processing after 30 June 2025:

Recent delivery from the US Navy of the SSMIS passive microwave data that several sea ice and brightness temperature products use has become more sporadic. The Defense Department has informed NSIDC that they will reduce the priority of processing the SSMIS data, resulting in likely daily data gaps. NSIDC will explore switching to a different sensor, the JAXA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2). However, this transition will take time. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this transition.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce the release of the International Ice Patrol Annual North Atlantic Iceberg Summaries and Reports, Version 1 data set. This data set contains yearly summaries and reports of iceberg sightings from the International Ice Patrol (IIP) in the North Atlantic (40° N to 60° N, 40° W to 60° W), beginning in 2024. Each season includes two PDF files: a one-page summary and a comprehensive iceberg season report.

Effective May 5, 2025, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) will decommission its snow and ice data products from the Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics Science Division (COGS).

As a result, the level of services for affected products below will be reduced to Basic—meaning they will remain accessible but may not be actively maintained, updated, or fully supported.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that both Version 4 and Version 5 of the Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), have been updated to include the time period of 01 July 2024 through 31 December 2024.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Rutgers Northern Hemisphere 24 km Weekly Snow Cover Extent, September 1980 Onward, Version 1 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the 2024 water year. The data record now goes to 04 November 2024. This data set provides weekly snow cover extent for the Northern Hemisphere in NetCDF format beginning September 1980.

Data Set DOI: https://doi.org/10.7265/zzbm-2w05

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has released Version 5 of the NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration data set and Version 3 of the Near-Real-TimeNOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration data set. The sea ice concentration climate data record (CDR) Version 5 and near-real-time (NRT) CDR Version 3 provide daily and monthly sea ice concentration data for north and south polar regions from October 25, 1978, to the present on a 25 km × 25 km polar stereographic grid.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 4 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the time period of 01 April 2024 through 30 June 2024. This data set provides a consistent daily and monthly time series of sea ice concentrations beginning 25 October 1978 for both the north and south polar regions on a 25 km x 25 km grid.

The Near-Real-Time NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 2 data set has been reprocessed to update the input data used in processing. For the past year, we inadvertently used data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) F17 instrument instead of the SSMIS F18 as stated in our user guide. This discrepancy occurred due to a technical oversight during our transition to a new file format for input data.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 4 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the time period of 01 January 2024 through 31 March 2024. This data set provides a consistent daily and monthly time series of sea ice concentrations beginning 25 October 1978 for both the north and south polar regions on a 25 km x 25 km grid. 

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 4 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the time period of 01 October 2023 through 31 December 2023. This data set provides a consistent daily and monthly time series of sea ice concentrations beginning 25 October 1978 for both the north and south polar regions on a 25 km x 25 km grid.

After some consideration, NOAA@NSIDC has decided to remove the beta release of the NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave 12.5 km Sea Ice Concentration, Version 5 data set from the public archive. This decision is due to inaccuracies and discontinuities in the older portion of the time series. We believe it is in the best interest of the user community that we resolve these issues first and then release a fully validated product. The Version 4 product will continue to be produced and is now listed as the most recent version.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the beta release of the NOAA/NSIDC Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave 12.5 km Sea Ice Concentration, Version 5 data set is now available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The sea ice concentration (SIC) climate data record (CDR) V5 data set provides a daily and monthly time series of sea ice concentrations beginning 25 October 1978 and continuing to the present for both the north and south polar regions. The data is provided on a 12.5 km x 12.5 km polar stereographic grid.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 4 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the time period of 01 July 2023 through 30 September 2023. This data set provides a consistent daily and monthly time series of sea ice concentrations beginning 25 October 1978 for both the north and south polar regions on a 25 km x 25 km grid.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Rutgers Northern Hemisphere 24 km Weekly Snow Cover Extent, September 1980 Onward, Version 1 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the 2023 water year. The data record now extends to 02 October 2023. This data set provides weekly snow cover extent for the Northern Hemisphere in NetCDF format beginning September 1980.

Data Set DOI: https://doi.org/10.7265/zzbm-2w05

Reminder that after 31 December 2023, FTP access to NOAA@NSIDC data will no longer be available. Instead, you can now access NOAA@NSIDC data using the HTTPS protocol. We are transitioning from FTP to HTTPS for data distribution to improve user accessibility, particularly through web browsers.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Climate Data Record of Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration, Version 4 data set, accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), has been updated to include the time period of 01 January 2023 through 30 June 2023. This data set provides a consistent daily and monthly time series of sea ice concentrations beginning 25 October 1978 for both the north and south polar regions on a 25 km x 25 km grid.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Daily Great Lakes Ice Concentration, 1973 Onward, Version 1 data set is now available through the 2023 ice season. In addition, shapefiles for the 2003 ice season through the 2023 ice season have been added as a format of the data set. This data set consists of daily gridded lake ice concentration for the Laurentian Great Lakes from the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).