The Data Access Portal has information in 3 columns. An outline of the content in these columns is provided above. When first entering the search interface, all potential datasets are listed. Datasets are indicated in the map and results tabulation elements which are located in the middle column. The order of results can be modified using the "Sort by" option in the left column. On top of this column is normally relevant guidance information to user presented as collapsible elements.
If the user want to refine the search, this can be done by constraining the bounding box search. This is done in the map - the listing of datasets is automatically updated. Date constraints can be added in the left column. For these to take effect, the user has to push the button marked search. In the left column it is also possible to specific text elements to search for in the datasets. Again pushing the button marked "Search" is necessary for these to take action. Complex search patterns can be constructed by changing the operators used in the text field and prefixing words with '+' and '-' to indicate whether they have to be present or should not be present in the results.
Other elements indicated in the left and right columns are facet searches, i.e. these are keywords that are found in the datasets and all datasets that contain these specific keywords in the appropriate metadata elements are listed together. Further refinement can be done using full text, date or bounding box constraints. Individuals, organisations and data centres involved in generating or curating the datasets are listed in the facets in the right column.
Citation of data and service
If you use data retrieved through this portal, please acknowledge the efforts of the data portal and the data centres contributing.
The information required to properly cite a dataset is normally provided in the discovery metadata the datasets.
author,
title,
year of publication,
publisher (for data this is often the archive where it is housed),
edition or version,
access information (a URL or persistent identifier, e.g. DOI if provided)
The Historical Arctic Rawinsonde Archive (HARA) contains millions of vertical soundings of temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind, representing all available rawinsonde ascents from Arctic land stations poleward of 65 degrees North. HARA includes soundings from the beginning of record through mid-1996. Most stations began recording soundings in the late 1950s, but a few began in 1947 or 1948.
Earth Observing System Data Information System, Earth Science Information Partners Program, NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program (EOSDIS, ESIP, NOAA/NASA PATHFINDER)
As of 1 February 2022, this data set is retired and no longer available for download. We recommend using the MEaSUREs Calibrated Enhanced-Resolution Passive Microwave Daily EASE-Grid 2.0 Brightness Temperature ESDR, Version 1 data set, located at https://nsidc.org/data/nsidc-0630/versions/1, as an alternative.
This Level-3 Equal-Area Scalable Earth-Grid (EASE-Grid) Brightness Temperature data set, collected since 09 July 1987, is a part of the NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program. The data set consists of gridded data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) in three equal-area projections: Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, and full global.
The AMSR Level-2A product (AA_L2A) contains brightness temperatures at 6.9 GHz, 10.65 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 23.8 GHz, 36.5 GHz, 89.0 GHz, 50.3 GHz, and 52.8GHz. Data are resampled to be spatially consistent except for the 50.3GHz and 52.8GHz data, and therefore are available at a variety of resolutions that correspond to the footprint sizes of the observations such as 56 km, 38 km, 24 km, 21 km, 12 km, and 5.4 km, respectively.
The Near-real-time Ice and Snow Extent (NISE) data set provides daily, global maps of sea ice concentrations and snow extent. These data are not suitable for time series, anomalies, or trends analyses. They are meant to provide a best estimate of current ice and snow conditions based on information and algorithms available at the time the data are acquired. Near-real-time products are not intended for operational use in assessing sea ice conditions for navigation.
This NISE Version 5 product contains DMSP-F18, SSMIS-derived sea ice concentrations and snow extents derived from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F18 satellite. For DMSP-F16, SSMIS-derived data, see <a href="https://doi.org/10.5067/JAQDJKPX0S60"> NISE Version 3</a>. For DMSP-F17, SSMIS-derived data, see <a href="https://nsidc.org/data/nise/versions/4"> NISE Version 4</a>. For the older, DMSP-F13, Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) derived data, see <a href="https://doi.org/10.5067/4FSODMDM1WEJ">NISE Version 2</a>.
The Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth (HSDSD) product is based on observations from 284 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stations throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union from 1881 through 1995. Other parameters include snow cover percent, snow characteristics, site characterization, and quality flags.
This data set provides a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for Antarctica to 81.5 degrees south latitude, at a resolution of 5 km. Approximately twenty million data points were used to generate this data set. Data points were derived from ERS-1 radar altimetry during the geodetic phase from March 1994 to May 1995.
The Comprehensive Ocean - Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) Long Marine Reports Fixed-Length (LMRF) Arctic subset contains marine surface weather reports for regions north of 65 degrees N from ships, drifting ice stations, and buoys. The COADS LMRF Arctic subset contains data collected over the years 1950 to 1995 and includes the following parameters: air and sea temperature, cloudiness, humidity, and winds. The data are in the form of individual marine reports with a given latitude and longitude.
NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Program, Earth Science Information Partners Program, Earth Observing System Data Information System (NOAA/NASA PATHFINDER, ESIP, EOSDIS)
This data set consists of brightness temperatures acquired from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on board the Nimbus-7 Pathfinder satellite. The brightness temperatures are gridded onto the Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) and are presented in three different projections: Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, and global.
This data set includes yearly snow melt onset dates over Arctic sea ice derived from Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) brightness temperature measurements. The data are gridded to the 25 km Northern Hemisphere Polar Stereographic projection and available from 1979 through 2022. One browse image is available for each year.
This data set also contains value-added statistics for each grid cell, including: mean melt onset date, latest (maximum) melt onset date, earliest (minimum) melt onset date, range of melt onset dates (the difference between maximum and minimum onset dates), and the standard deviation of melt onset dates. One browse image is also provided for each statistical field.
NSIDC provides this data set to aid investigations of variability and trends in sea ice cover. Ice cover in these data are indicated by sea ice concentration: the percentage of the ocean surface covered by ice. The ice-covered area indicates how much ice is present; it is the total surface area of a pixel multiplied by the ice concentration in that pixel. Ice persistence is the percentage of months over the data set time period that ice existed at a location. The ice extent indicates whether ice is present; here, ice is considered to exist in a pixel if the sea ice concentration exceeds 15 percent. This data set provides users with data about total ice-covered areas, sea ice extent, ice persistence, and monthly climatologies of sea ice concentrations.
NOTE: This data set has been replaced by the <a href="http://nsidc.org/data/g02176.html">Sea Ice Charts of the
Russian Arctic in Gridded Format, 1933-2006</a> data set.
These gridded ice charts represent a reformatting of information contained in another data set, the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute's (AARI) 10 Day Digital Arctic Sea Ice Charts. AARI digitized Arctic sea ice concentration and stage of development charts as part of an international data exchange program. The AARI source charts, similar to operational charts distributed by the National Ice Center describing ice type and constitution, were developed from aircraft and satellite observations for shipping purposes, and provide extremely detailed information. Such data are particularly valued in process studies tracking the growth and recession of polynyas, or for looking at the preponderance of ice at certain stages of development in a particular area. NSIDC does not maintain the operational charts, but archives the AARI digitized version. However, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) 10 Day Digital Arctic Sea Ice Charts were encoded in SIGRID (Sea Ice Grid) format, which assigns numerical values to ice parameters and records them at specific lat/lon grid points. But due to the difficulties of visualizing, extracting and working with data in SIGRID, NSIDC is now providing
AARI data in NSIDC's Equal Area SSM/I Earth Grid.
The EASE-Grid format makes it especially easy to compare observed ice concentrations or ice types with the same parameters derived from satellite data (such as ice concentrations from passive microwave sensors).
AARI sea ice data in the EASE-Grid projection are gridded at a 12.5 km resolution, for both Western (24W to 110E) and Eastern (105E to 130W) sectors . Data extend from 1953 through 1990. Postscript (.ps) files depicting coverage per year are also provided with the data.