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)
NOTE ON GLAS BINARY DATA: Access to all ICESat/GLAS binary data products at NSIDC DAAC was removed 01 August 2017. The Binary Data Subsetter also has been decommissioned. ICESat/GLAS data remain available in <a href="http://nsidc.org/data/glah14/versions/34">HDF5 format</a>.
The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides global measurements of polar ice sheet elevation to discern changes in ice volume (mass balance) over time. Secondary objectives of GLAS are to measure sea ice roughness and thickness, cloud and atmospheric properties, land topography, vegetation canopy heights, ocean surface topography, and surface reflectivity.
GLAS has a 1064 nm laser channel for surface altimetry and dense cloud heights, and a 532 nm lidar channel for the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols.
This level-2 altimetry product (GLA14) provides surface elevations for land. Data also include the laser footprint gelocation and reflectance, as well as geodetic, instrument, and atmospheric corrections for range measurements.
Each data granule has an associated browse product that users can quickly view to determine the general quality of the data in the granule. Browse products consist of image plots of key parameters and statistics. Data are in scaled integer binary format, big-endian (Unix) byte order.
The IceBridge Atmospheric Chemistry L1B Data set (ICHEM1B) contains measurements acquired over Antarctica using the AVOCET differential Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) gas analyzer instrument, the airborne Differential Absorption CO Measurement (DACOM) instrument, the Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH) instrument, and the airborne Whole Air Sampler (WAS). The data set contains measurements for CO<sub>2</sub>, CO, CH<sub>4</sub>, N<sub>2</sub>O, H<sub>2</sub>O(v) and Whole Air Samples. The data were collected as part of Operation IceBridge funded aircraft survey campaigns, and are stored in International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) data format and are available from 12 October 2009 to 24 November 2009.
This data set contains static pressure values for Antarctica using the Paroscientific Digiquartz Transmitter. The data were collected by scientists working on the Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate (ICECAP) project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with additional support from NASA Operation IceBridge.
The parameters for this data set include gravimetric soil moisture, volumetric soil moisture, bulk density, and surface and soil temperature for the Georgia study region. This data set is part of the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03). The United States portion of SMEX03 was conducted during June and July, 2003. Data are provided in a tab-delimited ASCII text file, and are available via FTP.
These data were collected as part of a validation study for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). AMSR-E is a mission instrument launched aboard NASA's Aqua Satellite on 04 May 2002. AMSR-E validation studies linked to SMEX are designed to evaluate the accuracy of AMSR-E soil moisture data. Specific validation objectives include assessing and refining soil moisture algorithm performance; verifying soil moisture estimation accuracy; investigating the effects of vegetation, surface temperature, topography, and soil texture on soil moisture accuracy; and determining the regions that are useful for AMSR-E soil moisture measurements.
This data set includes air temperature, vapor pressure, wind speed, and brightness temperatures taken at 12 flux towers as part of the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02).
AMSR-E Level-1A observation counts are processed from Level-0 science packet data by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Earth Observation Center (EOC) in Japan.
This gridded Level-3 land surface product (AE_Land3) includes daily measurements of surface soil moisture and vegetation/roughness water content interpretive information, as well as brightness temperatures and quality control variables. Ancillary data include time, geolocation, and quality assessment.
Notice to Data Users: The documentation for this data set was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and was not further developed, thoroughly reviewed, or edited by NSIDC. Thus, support for this data set may be limited.
This data set combines data for several parameters measured in the Walnut Creek watershed located in Iowa, USA for the Soil Moisture Experiment 2005 (SMEX05).
Notice to Data Users: The documentation for this data set was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and was not further developed, thoroughly reviewed, or edited by NSIDC. Thus, support for this data set may be limited.
This data set consists of Vegetation Water Content (VWC) data for two Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) regional study areas, Oklahoma North and Oklahoma South. VWC was derived from the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) which was obtained from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) imagery.
Earth Observing System Data Information System, International Program for Antarctic Buoys, Earth Science Information Partners Program, World Climate Research Program (EOSDIS, IPAB, ESIP, WCRP)
Through participating research organizations in various countries, the World Climate Research Programme's (WCRP) International Programme for Antarctic Buoys (IPAB) maintains a network of drifting buoys in the Antarctic sea ice zone to support a better understanding of sea ice motion, meteorology, and oceanography. The IPAB Antarctic Drifting Buoy Data archive, spanning the years 1995 to 1998, includes measurements of buoy position, atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and sea surface temperature. Data are organized by daily and three-hour averages and are provided as raw, instantaneous, non-interpolated data values. Data were collected from buoys initially deployed in the following three study regions: East Antarctica; the Weddell Sea; and the Bellingshausen, Amundsen, and Ross Seas.
NOTE ON GLAS BINARY DATA: Access to all ICESat/GLAS binary data products at NSIDC DAAC was removed 01 August 2017. The Binary Data Subsetter also has been decommissioned. ICESat/GLAS data remain available in <a href="http://nsidc.org/data/glah10/versions/33">HDF5 format</a>.
The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides global measurements of polar ice sheet elevation to discern changes in ice volume (mass balance) over time. Secondary objectives of GLAS are to measure sea ice roughness and thickness, cloud and atmospheric properties, land topography, vegetation canopy heights, ocean surface topography, and surface reflectivity.
GLAS has a 1064 nm laser channel for surface altimetry and dense cloud heights, and a 532 nm lidar channel for the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols.
Level-2 aerosol vertical structure data (GLA10) contain the attenuation-corrected cloud and aerosol backscatter and extinction profiles at a 4 sec sampling rate for aerosols and a 1 sec rate for clouds.
Each data granule has an associated browse product that users can quickly view to determine the general quality of the data in the granule. Browse products consist of image plots of key parameters and statistics. Data are in scaled integer binary format, big-endian (Unix) byte order.
This data set contains vertical acceleration values for Antarctica using the CMG 1A dynamic gravity meter. The data were collected by scientists working on the Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate (ICECAP) project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with additional support from NASA Operation IceBridge.
Notice to Data Users: The documentation for this data set was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and was not further developed, thoroughly reviewed, or edited by NSIDC. Thus, support for this data set may be limited.
This data set contains soil moisture network data collected over the Soil Moisture Experiment 2005 (SMEX05) area of Iowa, USA.
This data set contains measurements taken during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) from 1 June 2003 to 31 July 2003 from sensors at the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) station located in Little River, GA, USA.