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image of data from IceBridge
satellite image of sea ice
image of icebridge data

NSIDC DAAC

National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center

NASA's National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) provides data and information for snow and ice processes, particularly interactions among snow, ice, atmosphere, and ocean, in support of research in global change detection and model validation.

NSIDC DAAC archives and distributes cryosphere and climate-related products from instruments, platforms, and projects including:

  • Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) on the JAXA ADEOS-II Satellite
  • Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - EOS (AMSR-E)
  • AMSR2
  • Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO)
  • Aquarius
  • Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX)
  • Global Land Ice Measurements (GLIMS)
  • High Mountain Asia (HMA)
  • IceBridge
  • ICESat/Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS)
  • Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)
  • Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor Facility (LVIS)
  • Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
  • Soil Moisture Active Passive L-Band Radiometer (SMAP L-Band Radiometer)
  • Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR)
  • Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I)
  • Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS)
  • Snow Experiment (SnowEx)
  • Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)

NSIDC DAAC also provides general data and information services to the cryospheric and polar processes research community. NSIDC DAAC has served at the forefront of cryospheric data management practices since 1976. NSIDC DAAC is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a joint institute of University of Colorado Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NSIDC Snow and Ice Data

Visit the NSIDC DAAC website to learn more about data and services. NSIDC DAAC content will move into the Earthdata website in 2026.