National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), located at the University of Colorado at Boulder, focuses on polar and cryospheric research. NSIDC is supported through collaborative agreements with several agencies including NOAA, NSF, NASA, and other international data-producing organizations.

The center is well-known to researchers seeking archived remote-sensing data sets on polar ice sheets and glaciers, but it usually makes headlines when referenced in news stories on shrinking sea ice coverage, the melting of glacial ice due to global warming, threatened Arctic species endangered by climate change, and ice-free Arctic summers attributed to increasing greenhouse gases. To its credit, NSIDC maintains a website that is top-notch.

The access to archived and current data sets, news, program information, research profiles, pictures, and expert analysis is impressive. The About the Cryosphere section is especially useful for general audiences and students; it provides extensive information about sea ice, snow, glaciers, etc., with links to related information, educational resources, and a glossary. The site is well designed, with easy-to-follow tabs that give everyone from novice high school students to researchers clear guidelines and tools for navigation. These include instructions for downloading data, contact sources for further information, metadata records, and related permissions. What makes this resource handy is NSIDC's ability to provide not only pertinent data sets, but analysis through graphs, modeling, pictures, and research summaries, offering expert and peer-reviewed research free of charge. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic, professional, and general audiences, all levels. -- I. D. Gordon, Brock University, Choice, October 2012