Sea Ice Trends and Climatologies from Satellite Data

NSIDC satellite data aids investigations of variability and trends in sea ice cover. It provides measurements of sea ice concentration, extent, ice-covered area, persistence, and monthly climatologies. The dataset is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in sea ice concentration (percentage of ocean covered by ice) over time.
• Calculating sea ice extent by identifying pixels where ice concentration exceeds 15 percent.
• Studying ice persistence as the percentage of months ice existed at a location.
• Mapping monthly climatologies of sea ice concentrations for seasonal comparisons.
• Estimating total ice-covered area by multiplying pixel surface area by its ice concentration.

Strengths

• Data is provided by the authoritative NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
• Includes multiple derived metrics: concentration, extent, area, and persistence for detailed analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and NASA Earthdata signals its importance and reliability.

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and specific temporal coverage are not provided in any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: datagov lists 2026-03 12, while nasa_earthdata lists 2022-12-31.
• Column names and a complete data dictionary are unknown from the provided descriptions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) / NSIDC

Collection Method

Satellite observations from SMMR and SSM/I-SSMIS sensors.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:04:46.966510

Geography

Global, with focus on polar ocean surfaces.