
Cryosphere Research
Cryospheric Sciences at NASA
Increases in ice loss from the glaciers of Antarctica, Greenland, and the rest of the Arctic are contributing to sea level rise, while similarly dramatic changes are occurring in the sea ice cover of the Arctic and Southern Oceans. Characterizing these changes and understanding the processes controlling them is required to improve our understanding of the Earth system and forecast the impacts of continued change.
The Earth’s cryosphere covers continent-sized areas in the most inaccessible and inhospitable regions of the globe. NASA’s capabilities in satellite and aircraft remote- sensing are critical tools for understanding the changes occurring there. NASA’s Cryospheric Sciences Program supports studies based on satellite and aircraft remote sensing observations to understand the factors controlling changes in the ice and its interaction with the ocean, atmosphere, solid earth, and solar radiation.
Data
- National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
- GRACE-FO
- GRACE
- NASA Earthdata
- Ice Sheet System Model
- Virtual Earth System Laboratory
- Alaska Satellite Facility
- Oceans Melting Greenland
- Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net)
- POLENET
- Satellite Visualization Data for the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO)
- Polar Geospatial Center
Research
- Current funding opportunities
- Recent selections
- Cryosphere Science at JPL
- Cryospheric Science at Goddard
- Projects
Visualizations
For the full collection of cryospheric sciences animations, please visit NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Reports
- Thriving on Our Changing Plant - A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observations from Space(2018) from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine
- Antarctic Sea Ice Variability in the Southern Ocean-Climate System(2017) from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine
- Understanding the Dynamic Response of Greenland’s Marine Terminating Glaciers to Oceanic and Atmospheric Forcing(2014) from U.S. CLIVAR
- Seasonal-to-Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice: Challenges and Strategies(2012) from the National Research Council
- Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean(2011) from the National Research Council
- SEARCH 5-year Science Goals from The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)
- Climate and Cryosphere (CLiC)of the World Climate Change Research Program
- IARPC Research Plan from the Interagency Arctic Policy Committee (IARPC)