View NSIDC Data on Virtual Globes: Google
Earth
The National Snow and Ice Data Center offers some of our
data in the form of images. We have created Google Earth™ files
that enable you to overlay the following data-based images on a virtual
globe. Our goal is to help people better understand the cryosphere—where
the world is frozen—by making our data more visible and interactive.
Featured Data highlights some of our
most requested data, as well as our newest Google Earth files.
You can view more snow, ice, ice shelves, glaciers, permafrost,
and sea ice on the globe.
Or, you can use Google Earth to locate cryospheric
field data sets on the globe.
Note: each of our Google Earth files may reference multiple
subjects and data sets. A particular file may be listed under more than
one subject in the table that follows.
Featured Data
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Arctic
sea ice concentrations and extents, updated daily (AMSR-E sensor)
View the extent and concentration
of Arctic sea ice for a recent period:
Past 30
Days (KML, 46 KB)
Past 60 Days (KML,
84 KB)
Past 90 Days (KML,
122 KB)
Data Source: AMSR-E/Aqua Daily L3
12.5 km Brightness Temperature, Sea Ice Concentration, & Snow
Depth Polar Grids
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate these images. |
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Arctic
sea ice concentrations and extents, updated daily (SSM/I sensor)
View the extent and concentration
of Arctic sea ice for a recent period:
Past
30 Days (KML, 46 KB)
Past
60 Days (KML, 84 KB)
Past
90 Days (KML, 122 KB)
Data Source: Near Real-Time SSM/I EASE-Grid
Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent (NISE)
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate these images. |
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Glaciers
View photographs of more than
4,000 glaciers, 1880s to present
Snow,
ice, glaciers and permafrost file for Google Earth (KML,
8 KB)
Data Source: Glacier Photograph Collection; Near
Real-Time SSM/I EASE-Grid Daily Global Ice Concentration and
Snow Extent (NISE); Circum-Arctic
Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions
Note:.On October 1, 2007 we added more than 1,200
Greenland glaciers and several Franz Josef, New Zealand glaciers.
Prior users may download the new file to get the updates. |
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Sea
ice
View Arctic and Antarctic sea
ice extents from 1979 through present for months March and September
(animated data time series)
Sea ice extents
file for Google Earth (KMZ, 481 KB)
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate these images.
Data Source: Sea Ice Index |
View more snow, ice, glaciers, permafrost,
and sea ice on the globe
 |
Breakup
of the Larsen B ice shelf
Watch the disintegration of
the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002, as captured in MODIS satellite
images
Larsen
B ice shelf file for Google Earth (KMZ, 3 MB)
Data Source: Animation
of Larsen B breakup
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate these images. |
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Changes
in glaciers, the Larsen B ice shelf, and Arctic sea ice extent
View photographs showing long-term
changes in glaciers; watch the disintegration of the Larsen B ice
shelf; and view Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extents from 1979
through present
Glaciers,
ice shelves, and sea ice file for Google Earth (KML,
8 KB)
Data Sources: Glacier Photograph
Collection; Sea Ice Index; Animation
of Larsen B breakup
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate the Larsen B and sea ice extents. |
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GLIMS
ASTER glacier footprints
View approximately 150,000
ASTER browse images over regions of the world where glaciers exist
(from 2000-present)
GLIMS
ASTER glacier footprints file (KMZ, 4 KB)
Data Source: GLIMS Glacier Database; Terra
ASTER Metadata Inventory, EROS
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate these images. |
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Greenland
annual surface melt, 1979 - 2007
View the extent and frequency
of surface melt for the Greenland ice sheet
Greenland
melt file for Google Earth (KMZ,
404 KB)
Data Source: Greenland Ice Sheet
Melt Characteristics Derived from Passive Microwave Data
Note: See Time Series in Google Earth to
animate these images. |
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IceTrek
iceberg tracks
Explore the lifecycle of drifting
Antarctic icebergs, and view photos from instruments riding on
the bergs
IceTrek
iceberg tracks file (KMZ, 6.7 MB)
Data Source: IceTrek Web site |
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NISE
daily sea ice concentration, July - September 2007
View daily sea ice concentration
for the two months leading up to the record Arctic sea ice minimum
extent in September 2007
NISE
daily sea ice concentration, July 16 - September 16, 2007 file (KMZ,
612 KB)
Data Source: Near Real-Time SSM/I EASE-Grid
Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent (NISE)
Note: See Time Series
in Google Earth to animate these images. |
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Nordic
Seas ice edge
View changes in the sea ice
edge in the Nordic Seas, from 1967 to 2002, for the months March
through August.
Nordic
Seas ice edge (KML, 892 KB)
Data Source: March through August
Ice Edge Positions in the Nordic Seas, 1750-2002 |
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Permafrost, ground ice
View permafrost and ground ice types
and extents in the Northern Hemisphere
Snow, ice, glaciers,
and permafrost file for Google Earth (KML, 8 KB)
Data Source: Circum-Arctic Map of
Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions |
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Sea ice, snow
View yesterday’s snow and ice
data
Snow, ice, glaciers,
and permafrost file for Google Earth (KML, 8 KB)
Data Source: Near Real-Time SSM/I EASE-Grid
Daily Global Ice Concentration and Snow Extent (NISE) |
Locate cryospheric field data
sets on the globe
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