Arctic Sea Ice Thickness and Snow Depth Quick Look for March 2014-2015

March 2014 and March 2015 data from the Arctic sea ice cover, providing a quick look product for seasonal forecasting. The dataset contains sea ice thickness, freeboard, snow depth, snow density, sea ice concentration, and roughness derived from ESA's CryoSat-2 satellite. It is an experimental product from NASA's Operation IceBridge campaigns.

Use Cases

• Seasonal sea ice forecasting using thickness and freeboard measurements.
• Analyzing snow load on sea ice using snow depth and density columns.
• Studying sea ice surface characteristics via roughness data.
• Correlating ice thickness with spatial concentration data.

Strengths

• Provides a focused two-month temporal snapshot (March 2014 and March 2015) for comparative analysis.
• Contains multiple derived geophysical parameters including snow depth, density, and ice roughness.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA Earthdata indicates recognized importance.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates: Data.gov lists 2026-03-13, while NASA Earthdata lists 2015-03-31.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and exact column names are not provided by any source.
• Described as an experimental quick look product, suggesting it is not a final, validated dataset.

Provenance

Source

European Space Agency (ESA) CryoSat-2 Level-1B SAR/SarIn Baseline B data products.

Collection Method

Derived parameters from satellite data, collected as part of NASA's Operation IceBridge funded campaigns.

Time Range

March 2014 to March 2015

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:29:35.364356

Geography

Arctic sea ice cover