News & Stories
Across the globe, snow and ice play a vital role in regulating Earth’s climate and providing freshwater resources to people, plants, and animals.
As Earth’s frozen regions change rapidly, NSIDC is committed to growing its research and open access data to better understand these changes. Read about NSIDC research and its contribution to science and policy making. Check out spotlights on how to use NSIDC data, tools, and resources. Learn about how we steward data and collaborate with scientists and organizations across the world to understand how the frozen parts of Earth affect the rest of the planet and impact society.
News and stories
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Although area and extent may sound synonymous, they are different measurements, rendering different numbers, even from the same satellite observations. Sea ice area is the total region covered by ice. Extent is the total region with at least 15 percent sea ice cover. NSIDC usually reports extent, which gives higher values than area.
Spotlight
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) archives and manages data from the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). Here is a snapshot of the ICESat-2 mission and its data.
Analysis - Snow Today
Snow-covered area for the western United States was 119 percent of average for May with above average snow cover in the North outbalancing below average snow cover in the South. Snow cover days remained well below average...
Analysis - Sea Ice Today
Sea ice extent near both poles was again below average, but higher than in recent years for most of the month.
Spotlight
The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) offers an interactive tool called IceFlow to harmonize nearly 30 years of lidar data.
Analysis - Snow Today
Snow-covered area for the western United States was 104 percent of average for April, with more snow-covered area in the North than in the South. But snow cover days indicate a relatively dry year since October 1, 2021.