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Sea Ice Data Access and Tools

NASA has sea ice datasets that help researchers characterize the presence and extent of ice in the ocean. Access a range of data and data tools such as AppEEARS, Worldview, and Giovanni to make the most of sea ice data.

Sea Ice Datasets

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Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
NSCAT Level 1.7 SDR, Sigma-0 Cells	2	ADEOS-I	NSCAT	1996-09-15 to 1997-06-29	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	50000 Meters x 50000 Meters	HDF
Primary Ancillary Data Geo-Colocated to OMI/Aura UV2 1-Orbit L2 Swath 13x24km V4 (OMUANC) at GES DISC	004	Aura, GEOS-5	OMI, NOT APPLICABLE	2004-10-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	24 Kilometers x 13 Kilometers
Primary Ancillary Data Geo-Colocated to OMI/Aura VIS 1-Orbit L2 Swath 13x24km V4 (OMVANC) at GES DISC	004	Aura, GEOS-5	OMI, NOT APPLICABLE	2004-10-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	24 Kilometers x 13 Kilometers
RADARSAT-1 Level 0 Product	1	RADARSAT-1	SAR	1996-02-01 to 2009-03-17	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
RADARSAT-1 Level 1 Product	1	RADARSAT-1	SAR	1996-02-01 to 2009-03-17	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
SASSIE Arctic Field Campaign Shipboard S-Band Radar Level 3 Data Fall 2022	1	Ships	RADAR	2022-09-08 to 2022-09-30	N: 75.5 S: 67.5 E: -138 W: -170.5		geotiff
SASSIE Arctic Field Campaign Shipboard S-Band Radar Level 4 Data Fall 2022	1	Ships	RADAR	2022-09-08 to 2022-09-30	N: 75.5 S: 67.5 E: -138 W: -170.5		geotiff
SASSIE Arctic Field Campaign Summary Ice Concentration Rankings from ML analysis of SBAND Images Fall 2022	1	Ships	RADAR	2022-09-08 to 2022-09-30	N: 75.5 S: 67.5 E: -138 W: -170.5		netCDF-4
SASSIE ECCO Ocean and Sea-Ice Surface Freshwater Fluxes - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			netCDF-4
SASSIE ECCO Ocean and Sea-Ice Surface Heat Fluxes - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			netCDF-4
SASSIE ECCO Sea-Ice and Snow Horizontal Volume and Area Fluxes - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			NETCDF4
SASSIE ECCO Sea-Ice and Snow Horizontal Volume and Area Tendencies - Daily Mean llc1080 Grid (Version 1 Release 1)	V1R1	MITgcm		2014-01-15 to 2021-02-08			NETCDF4
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data V001	1	DMSP 5D-2/F11, DMSP 5D-2/F13, DMSP 5D-2/F8, DMSP 5D-3/F17, Nimbus-7	SSM/I, SSMIS, SMMR	1978-10-26 to 2021-12-31	N: 90 S: 30.98 E: 180 W: -180 , N: -39.23 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	PNG, Binary
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data V002	2	DMSP 5D-2/F11, DMSP 5D-2/F13, DMSP 5D-2/F8, DMSP 5D-3/F17, Nimbus-7	SSM/I, SSMIS, SMMR	1978-10-26 to 2025-12-31	N: -39.23 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 , N: 90 S: 30.98 E: 180 W: -180	25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers	PNG, netCDF-4
SEASAT SCATTEROMETER BINNED 50KM SIGMA-0 DATA (Wentz)	1	SEASAT 1	SASS	1978-07-07 to 1978-10-10	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	50000 Meters x 50000 Meters	RAW
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization Full Resolution Ground Range Detected Product	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization Full Resolution Ground Range Detected Product Metadata	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization High Resolution Ground Range Detected Product	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization High Resolution Ground Range Detected Product Metadata	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization Medium Resolution Ground Range Detected Product	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Dual Polarization Medium Resolution Ground Range Detected Product Metadata	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Level 0 Product	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Level 0 Product Metadata	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Single Look Complex Product	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Sentinel-1A Single Look Complex Product Metadata	1	Sentinel-1A	C-SAR	2014-04-03 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Featured Sea Ice Observation Method: ICESat-2

NASA's Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) carries a laser altimeter scientists use to measure the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and more in unprecedented, 3-D detail. The satellite also measures heights across Earth's temperate and tropical regions, and takes stock of the vegetation in forests worldwide.

Earthdata graphic identifier on top of image of Earth

ICESat-2 Data Usher in a New Age of Exploration

Data from NASA’s ICESat-2 mission provide incredibly accurate measurements of Earth elevation change—and much more.

8 MIN READ

six vertical bands showing various satellite images

New Low Latency ICESat-2 Datasets

The five new datasets are the result of a joint effort by NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group Management Office (SNWG MO), ICESat-2 team, and Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE).

3 MIN READ

This true-color image of Kiriwina Island in in Papua New Guinea shows the 55 tracks of ATL24 bathymetry data.

New Global ICESat-2 Bathymetric Data Fills Near-Shore Data Voids

ATL24, a new space-based lidar product, provides bathymetry data that can be used to characterize nearshore habitats and create safer maritime transportation channels.

Location of NASA ICESat-2 (ATL13) data (Inland Water Product) from April 25, 2023 over Lake Powell, Utah, United States, viewed in OpenAltimetry.

Laser Altimetry Applications for a Changing World: Explore ICESat-2 Data

This is the first in a five-part webinar series to introduce NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation-2 (ICESat-2) platform and the platform's data, tools, and applications.

Sea Ice Data Tools

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Items

Tool Sort descending	Description	Services
OpenAltimetry	OpenAltimetry is a map-based visualization tool for exploring surface elevation data across Earth over time.	Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization

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