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

The Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 1 data set, accessible from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated to include new data through 31 December 2021. This data set is generated from brightness temperature data and is designed to provide a consistent time series of sea ice concentrations spanning the coverage of several passive microwave instruments.

The latest versions of four SMAP Level-2 and Level-3 data sets, accessible from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), were released in the last year and data reprocessing is now complete. The full temporal coverage, from 31 March 2015 to present is available. Also, customization services are now available for the polar grid variables for the SMAP Enhanced L3 Radiometer Global and Polar Grid Daily 9 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture, Version 5 data set.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the Glacier Covered Area for the State of Alaska, 1985-2020, Version 1 data set is now available at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). This data set captures changes in glacier covered area across the state of Alaska for the period of 1985-2020. The data set includes 18 biannual shapefiles each for overall glacier covered area, supraglacial debris area, and debris-free glacier covered area.

The LVIS L1A Geotagged Images, Version 1 data set has been updated at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) to now include data from flights held on 16 July 2021 through 6 August 2021. These flights were conducted over the eastern US and French Guiana collecting calibration and validation data for the NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission.

The SMAPVEX15 PALS Soil Moisture Data, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains soil moisture data derived from the brightness temperatures measured by the Passive Active L-band System (PALS) microwave aircraft instrument.

The ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Annual Land Ice Height (ATL11) data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated to Version 5. Changes to this version include: addition of cycles 12 and 13 of the ICESat-2 data, removal of some orbit specific parameters that are not needed for ATL11, and implementation of mean-tide inclusion for converting geoid heights.

All versions (1-6) of the Randolph Glacier Inventory - A Dataset of Global Glacier Outlines are now accessible through the National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains a global set of glacier outlines, is intended to provide a snapshot of the world’s glaciers, and includes a single outline for each glacier. It is produced in coordination with the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) initiative.

The ICESat-2 mission, at the recommendation of the Satellite Needs Working Group, has released a subset of ATLAS/ICESat-2 data sets that will be available at an expedited latency. These “quick look” data sets are now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC).

The SnowEx20 Grand Mesa Snow Depth from Snow Pole Time-Lapse Imagery, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains snow depth measurements derived from time-lapse images collected by cameras placed around Grand Mesa, CO at 29 sites coincident with other SnowEx 2020 measurements. The images span from 29 September 2019 through 10 June 2020.

The MEaSUREs Greenland Ice Velocity: Selected Glacier Site Velocity Maps from Optical Images, Version 3 data set, accessible from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated. New data from 01 January 2021 through 30 November 2021 have been added. This data set is part of the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program. It consists of mean monthly velocity maps for selected glacier outlet areas.

Beginning on 19 April 2022, the GLIMS Glacier Database, Version 1, which is hosted at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), will require users to log in using Earthdata Login before downloading data.

The ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Daily and Monthly Gridded Sea Ice Freeboard (ATL20), Versions 2 and 3 and the ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Daily and Monthly Gridded Polar Sea Surface Height Anomaly (ATL21), Versions 1 and 2 data sets, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), contain an error in the grid_lon variable.

The ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Daily and Monthly Gridded Sea Ice Freeboard (ATL20), Version 3 and the ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Daily and Monthly Gridded Polar Sea Surface Height Anomaly (ATL21), Versions 2 data sets, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), have updated files for October 2021. Revision 1 files have been replaced with revision 2. Revision numbers are indicated in the file names just before the file extension (e.g.

NOAA@NSIDC is pleased to announce that the International Ice Patrol (IIP) has updated their Iceberg Sightings Database through the 2021 iceberg season. The IIP has been collecting information on iceberg activity in the North Atlantic since 1913, and this database contains data from these sightings starting in 1960. The IIP data files include latitude and longitude of sighted icebergs, coded iceberg size and shape class, and date and time of the sighting.

The ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Ocean Surface Height (ATL12) data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated to Version 5. This global data set contains along-track sea surface heights relative to the WGS 84 ellipsoid at variable length scales over cloud-free regions. Estimates of height distributions, surface roughness, surface slope, and apparent reflectance are also provided. ATL12 is available 13 October 2018 to present.

The ICESat-2 L4 Monthly Gridded Sea Ice Thickness, Version 2 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set reports monthly, gridded winter sea ice thickness across the Arctic Ocean. Sea ice thickness is estimated using ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Sea Ice Freeboard (ATL10), Version 5 data and NASA Eulerian Snow On Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM) snow loading. Version 5 includes new interpolated and smoothed parameters for freeboard, snow depth, and sea ice thickness.

The SnowEx21 Prairie Station In Situ Dielectric Soil Moisture and Soil Temperature, Version 1 data set is now available at the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). This data set contains in situ soil moisture and soil temperature measurements within the Montana Prairie Station study area located in central Montana. The temporal extent spans from 05 November 2020 to 02 April 2021.

Data set DOI: https://doi.org/10.5067/ZTAP7GH76M9Y

SMAP Level-4 data sets, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), can now be subsetted for a spatial area defined by a shapefile, KML/KMZ, or GeoJSON. This service can be invoked via NASA Earthdata Search or via programmatic access.

The following help articles describe all the customization services currently available for these SMAP data sets and give instructions on data access through NASA Earthdata Search or programmatically:

The MEaSUREs Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature ESDR, Version 1 data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 20 February 2022.

The DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Brightness Temperatures, Version 6 data set, accessible through the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC), has been updated through 5 January 2022. This data set provides daily gridded brightness temperatures derived from passive microwave sensors and distributed in a polar stereographic projection.