National Snow and Ice Data Center

What National Snow and Ice Data Center does

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is a research center operating within CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) at the University of Colorado Boulder, founded in 1976 to advance understanding of Earth's cryosphere — snow, ice, glaciers, frozen ground, permafrost, and polar climate. The organization ingests, processes, preserves, and distributes satellite-derived and in-situ cryosphere data drawn primarily from passive microwave instruments (SMMR, SSM/I, SSMIS, AMSR2), ICESat/ICESat-2, Operation IceBridge, Landsat 8, and partner-agency datasets from JAXA, DMI, University of Bremen, OSI SAF, and PIOMAS. Core products include the Sea Ice Index (continuous 1978-present record at 25 km resolution), Ice Sheets Today (Greenland and Antarctic melt monitoring), MASIE-NH (operational Arctic ice edge), Sea Ice Today, Snow Today, QGreenland (open-source QGIS-based GIS tool), GoLIVE and ITS_LIVE (ice velocity), and ELOKA (Indigenous data curation).

NSIDC's technology stack spans data archival infrastructure (DAAC), interactive visualization tools (Charctic, Sea Ice Index viewer, MASIE-NH viewer), programmatic access via HTTPS, FTP, and Python scripts, and machine-learning-augmented processing pipelines (ITS_LIVE, Permafrost Dynamics Observatory). Distribution is entirely free and open access across web browsers, FTP, command-line utilities, and interactive applications.

The business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. NSIDC's primary revenue comes from NASA (NSIDC DAAC, Sea Ice Today, Ice Sheets Today, Snow Today), NOAA (NOAA@NSIDC, SIPN/GOMO), and NSF (EarthCube, IUSE, ELOKA). All products and services are provided at zero cost to users. The customer/user base is global and includes scientists, government agencies, journalists, shipping and fisheries operators, Arctic and Indigenous communities, educators, and the general public, served through web, FTP, scientific networks (SIPN), and NASA EOSDIS/Earthdata discovery channels.

Name

National Snow and Ice Data Center

Legal name

National Snow and Ice Data Center

Website

https://nsidc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

NSIDC is a federally funded cryosphere research center within CIRES at the University of Colorado Boulder that ingests, processes, and distributes open-access satellite and in-situ snow, ice, and permafrost data to scientists, agencies, Arctic communities, educators, and the public via web, FTP, and interactive visualization tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Earth Science Data and Research Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Data & Analytics Platforms (Data Warehousing, Lakes, Streaming) (HDABAAAF), Remote Sensing & Geospatial MRV (Satellite, Aerial, LiDAR, SAR) (EUABACAF)

Keywords

• Cryosphere data services
• Sea ice monitoring
• Satellite data archive
• Polar climate research
• Glacier ice sheet analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Grants and Funding: NSIDC is funded primarily by U.S. federal government agencies including NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) provides open access cryosphere data from NASA Earth-observing satellite missions. The NOAA@NSIDC program provides open access data from satellites, field instruments, weather stations, and historical records. NSF funding supports programs such as the EarthCube project and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NSIDC distributes cryosphere data products and near-real-time monitoring of Earth's frozen regions (sea ice, ice sheets, glaciers, snow, permafrost) as NASA's primary Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) and host of the NOAA@NSIDC program. It provides free, open-access satellite-derived datasets, interactive visualization tools, GIS mapping applications, and scientific analyses to researchers, government agencies, educators, media, and Arctic communities globally.

Product overview

NSIDC provides a comprehensive suite of cryosphere data products and monitoring tools. Core offerings include Sea Ice Today (real-time Arctic/Antarctic sea ice monitoring), Ice Sheets Today (polar ice sheet melt tracking for Greenland and Antarctica), Sea Ice Index (historical sea ice data since 1979), and MASIE-NH (operational Arctic sea ice extent). Supporting products include Snow Today (Western US snow conditions), QGreenland (open-source Greenland GIS tool), and SIPN (sea ice prediction network). NSIDC operates as part of CIRES at University of Colorado Boulder, with major data programs including NASA DAAC and NOAA at NSIDC. Data is freely accessible to the public via HTTPS, FTP, and web-based visualization tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sea Ice Today: Near-real-time data and monthly analyses on Arctic and Antarctic sea ice conditions, formerly known as Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis (ASINA)
• Ice Sheets Today
• Snow Today
• Sea Ice Index
• MASIE-NH
• QGreenland
• SIPN
• NSIDC DAAC
• NOAA at NSIDC
• ELOKA

Products and services

• Sea Ice Today Near-real-time sea ice monitoring website providing daily and monthly images and analyses of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent and concentration, including the Charctic interactive graph, spreadsheets, and monthly scientific analyses. Receives over two million page visits annually.
• Ice Sheets Today Near-real-time monitoring of polar ice sheet surface melt conditions for Greenland and Antarctica, providing daily melt maps, cumulative melt days maps, melt extent graphs, and bimonthly scientific analyses. Consolidates former Greenland Ice Sheet Today and Antarctic Ice Sheet Today.
• Sea Ice Index Consistently processed sea ice extent and concentration images and data values from November 1978 to present, providing monthly and daily products at 25 km resolution for Arctic and Antarctic. Version 4 uses AMSR2 data. Includes extent, concentration, anomalies, and trends visualizations.
• MASIE-NH (Multisensor Analyzed Sea Ice Extent) Daily operational Arctic sea ice extent products from the NOAA@NSIDC program in cooperation with the U.S. National Ice Center, providing precise ice edge location from analyst-drawn charts using multiple sensors. Available in GeoTIFF, NetCDF, PNG, Shapefile, KMZ, and CSV formats.
• QGreenland Free and open-source GIS mapping tool for exploring data on Greenland's ocean, land, ice sheet, biology, and communities. Runs on QGIS software and can be used on- and offline. Enables study of ice sheet velocity, community infrastructure, and permafrost types.
• Snow Today Monthly analyses and daily data images of snow conditions in near-real time across the Western United States using satellite data and surface observations. Supported by NASA Hydrospheric Science Program.
• NSIDC DAAC (Distributed Active Archive Center) NASA-funded program providing open access cryosphere and related geophysical data from NASA Earth-observing satellite missions (ICESat/GLAS, ICESat-2, Operation IceBridge, SMAP), airborne campaigns, and field observations as part of NASA's EOSDIS system.
• ELOKA (Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic) Works with Indigenous communities in the Arctic to preserve and promote their data and knowledge for use in scientific studies. Provides data curation services for Indigenous and community-driven research, supported by NSF.
• NOAA at NSIDC NOAA-funded program providing open access data from satellites, field instruments, weather stations, historical records, and rescued data. Supports products including the Sea Ice Index and MASIE-NH.
• SIPN (Sea Ice Prediction Network) Collaborative network of scientists and stakeholders working to improve sea ice prediction, coordinating the Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) for seasonal predictions of September Arctic sea ice minimum. NSIDC's Walt Meier serves on the SIPN leadership team.
• GoLIVE (Global Land Ice Velocity Extraction from Landsat 8) Ice velocity mappings for all terrestrial ice larger than 5 km squared within 82°S to 82°N, generated from Landsat 8 image pairs (May 2013 to May 2021). Updated monthly with new imagery.
• ITS_LIVE (Inter-mission Land Ice Velocity and Elevation) Automated ice velocity and elevation data mapping global glaciers and ice sheets from early 1980s to early 2024, using machine learning algorithms applied to Landsat and other satellite imagery.
• Learn / Educational Resources Educational resources including a Cryosphere glossary, Ask a Scientist Q&A, and detailed explanations of cryosphere components (sea ice, ice sheets, glaciers, frozen ground/permafrost, snow, ice shelves), Arctic weather and climate, and Polar Explorer virtual learning.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sea Ice Today receives over 2 million page visits per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Arctic Data CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019QGreenland development includes a partnership with the Arctic Data Center, which supports data management and sharing for Arctic research. The Arctic Data Center is funded by NSF and provides infrastructure for storing and sharing Arctic research data.
• Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014ARCUS coordinates the Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) and its Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) initiative, providing logistics and web support for the network. SIPN is currently funded by NOAA GOMO and coordinated by NSIDC's Walt Meier along with collaborators from the University of Washington and NOAA GFDL. ARCUS has coordinated the SIO through 2025.
• Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) Leadership TeamflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008SIPN is a collaborative network of scientists and stakeholders. The leadership team includes Uma Bhatt (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Mitch Bushuk (NOAA GFDL), Ed Blanchard-Wrigglesworth (University of Washington), and Walt Meier (NSIDC). NSIDC scientists Mark Serreze, Julienne Stroeve, and Walt Meier actively contribute, with Walt Meier serving as PI.
• Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008ELOKA works with Indigenous communities in the Arctic to preserve and promote their data and knowledge for use in scientific studies. ELOKA is supported by NSF and collaborates with NSIDC to integrate Indigenous knowledge with scientific data, supporting community-based monitoring and data sovereignty.
• Norwegian Polar Institute (Quantarctica)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008QGreenland is modeled after the Norwegian Polar Institute's Quantarctica tool, which provides an interactive data environment for Antarctica. This reference model informed the design and approach of QGreenland.
• U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008MASIE-NH (Multisensor Analyzed Sea Ice Extent - Northern Hemisphere) is produced by the NOAA@NSIDC program in cooperation with the U.S. National Ice Center. USNIC provides nightly operational ice charts used to identify the current edge of Arctic sea ice.
• University of WashingtonflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008The University of Washington, through the Polar Science Center, contributes to SIPN leadership (Ed Blanchard-Wrigglesworth), provides Arctic sea ice volume data (PIOMAS), and collaborates on sea ice prediction and monitoring through the Sea Ice Prediction Network.
• University of GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Thomas Mote at the University of Georgia provides daily Greenland Ice Sheet melt data and collaborated with NSIDC to develop the original Greenland Ice Sheet Today website. He also developed the melt detection algorithm adapted for Antarctic use by Mike MacFerrin at CIRES.
• University of Liege, BelgiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Xavier Fettweis at the University of Liege provides Greenland melt season model simulations and collaborates with NSIDC on ice sheet melt analysis and data validation for Greenland.
• Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Jason Box and Robert Fausto at GEUS contribute data and collaborate with NSIDC on Greenland Ice Sheet melt analysis, providing in-situ observations and validation data for satellite-derived melt products.
• World Data SystemminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008NSIDC is a member of the World Data System (WDS), an international body that certifies trusted data repositories and promotes open data sharing across disciplines. WDS membership underscores NSIDC's role in global data infrastructure.
• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1976NASA is NSIDC's primary funding partner and the reason for NSIDC's existence as a NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). NASA funds the NSIDC DAAC to provide open-access cryosphere data from NASA Earth-observing satellite missions including DMSP, GCOM-W1, ICESat, ICESat-2, and Operation IceBridge. NASA also funds Sea Ice Today and Ice Sheets Today through the NASA Cryospheric Sciences Program. This is a long-standing, foundational partnership dating to 1976.
• NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1976NOAA funds the NOAA@NSIDC program, providing open-access data from satellites, field instruments, weather stations, historical records, and rescued data. NOAA also co-funds NSIDC through the CIRES partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder. The NOAA Sea Ice Index (G02135) is a joint NOAA/NSIDC product, and MASIE-NH is a NOAA@NSIDC product produced in cooperation with the U.S. National Ice Center.
• University of Colorado Boulder / CIREScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1976NSIDC is a part of CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences), a partnership between NOAA and the University of Colorado Boulder. CIRES provides NSIDC's institutional home, administrative support, and research collaboration framework. NSIDC's scientists hold faculty appointments at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI): Germany's primary polar and marine research institute, producing cryosphere and sea ice data products. Comparable as a government-funded polar data and research organization serving scientists and policymakers.
• Norwegian Polar Institute: Norway's polar research center and the originator of Quantarctica, which served as the model for NSIDC's QGreenland. Directly comparable in polar data product design and community-focused tooling.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): U.S. federally funded center for atmospheric and climate research, producing climate data products and analyses. Comparable as a university-affiliated national research center serving climate science users.
• USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center: Operates the Landsat archive and distributes Earth observation data products. Comparable as a federally-funded data center managing satellite imagery archives and long-term Earth science records.
• British Antarctic Survey (BAS): U.K. national polar research organization producing Antarctic and cryosphere data products. Comparable mission and structure as a publicly-funded center producing polar science data and analyses.
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): Intergovernmental organization producing global weather and climate reanalysis data, including cryosphere-relevant fields. Comparable as a multi-nation funded data center providing authoritative environmental records.
• National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI): NOAA's primary archive for environmental data, including cryosphere-relevant records. Most direct peer as another federally-mandated U.S. climate/environmental data center providing open-access data products and stewardship.

Broad incumbents

• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Operates many of the satellite missions (ICESat-2, SMAP, Operation IceBridge) whose data NSIDC distributes. Broader incumbent in cryosphere science with overlapping mission but not a data distribution peer.
• Google Earth Engine: Cloud-based geospatial analytics platform hosting petabytes of satellite imagery including cryosphere-relevant datasets. Comparable as an open-access Earth observation data platform but with a commercial/developer focus rather than scientific stewardship.
• European Space Agency (ESA): Operates CryoSat and Sentinel missions producing cryosphere-relevant Earth observation data. Broad incumbent comparable in distributing free satellite data products but at much larger scale and broader scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NSIDC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6jyJDs5L_FE-XMLP5hVJ9A
• Facebookfacebook.com/NSIDC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-snow-and-ice-data-center-nsidc-

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Snow and Ice Data Center