Arctic Sea Ice Freeboard and Thickness from ICESat and SSM/I

Arctic sea ice freeboard and thickness measurements are derived from satellite instruments including the ICESat Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), supplemented by snow and ice drift climatologies. The dataset is produced by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Update dates conflict, with sources reporting both 2008 and a future date of 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in Arctic sea ice thickness over time using the derived thickness measurements.
• Validating sea ice models with satellite-derived freeboard data.
• Studying the relationship between snow climatology and ice freeboard.
• Investigating regional variability in ice thickness across the Arctic.
• Combining ice drift climatology data with thickness to estimate ice volume transport.

Strengths

• Data synthesizes measurements from multiple satellite instruments (ICESat GLAS and SSM/I).
• Includes derived geophysical parameters (freeboard and thickness) critical for mass balance studies.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals established scientific use.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates: one source reports 2008-10-19, others report a future date of 2026-03-13.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• License is specified as 'other-license-specified', requiring users to check specific terms.

Provenance

Source

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

Collection Method

Derived from satellite measurements by ICESat Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), and climatologies of snow and ice drift.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-13 10:36:48.912666

Geography

Arctic region