You may download and use photographs, imagery, or text from our Web site, unless limitations for its use are specifically stated. Please credit the National Snow and Ice Data Center as described below.

Citing NSIDC Scientific Data Sets

As a condition of use, you must cite the use of our data in your work with a formal citation. A citation acknowledges our data contributors, and allows us to track the use and impact of our data. It also helps us report data distribution activity to funding agencies, and to assist others who may contact us about data that are referenced in publications.

How to Cite NSIDC scientific Data sets

• You must include a citation in the references section of your publication.
• You can find appropriate citations that can be copied and pasted into your documentation, on the landing page and in the documentation for each data set. If you need assistance with a citation format, please contact NSIDC User Services.

The following example shows how to cite the use of a data set in a publication:

Author's Name. Year of Publication. Title of Data Set and Version Number, [indicate subset used¹]. Boulder, Colorado USA: Publisher². DOI³.  [Date Accessed.]

¹This field is for temporal or spatial coverage of the data used. It is necessary to enable a micro-citation or the ability to refer to the specific data used—the exact files, granules, records, etc. For example, March to June 2004, or 84°N, 75°W; 44°N, 10°W.

²There are two choices for publisher:
1. If the data set was not obtained from the NSIDC NASA DAAC: National Snow and Ice Data Center.
2. If the data set was obtained from the NSIDC NASA DAAC: NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center.

³Use the complete DOI URL when adding a DOI to the citation. For example: http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5N877Q9

Example Citation for Non-NASA DAAC Data

Ahn, J., M. Wahlen, and B. Deck. 2003. Atmospheric CO2 Trapped in the Ice Core from Siple Dome, Antarctica, Version 1. [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5N877Q9. Accessed July 18, 2015.

Example Citation for NASA DAAC Data

Ashcroft, P. and F. J. Wentz. 2013. AMSR-E/Aqua L2A Global Swath Spatially-Resampled Brightness Temperatures, Version 3. [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/AMSR-E/AE_L2A.003. Accessed July 18, 2015.

Use and Credits of Photographs and Satellite Images

You may download and use photographs and satellite imagery on this site free of charge, with proper credit. Photos and imagery may have different copyright restrictions and credits. Unless otherwise specified, you may use our photographs and imagery for commercial purposes; however, you may not re-sell them.

Crediting photographs and images:

• General credit format: "Image/photo courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder."
• When a photographer is named: "Photo courtesy T. Scambos/National Snow and Ice Data Center"
• Satellite image: Please credit the agency and satellite instrument. Example: "Imagery from the NASA MODIS instrument, courtesy NASA NSIDC DAAC."

Some photographs and images may specify other credits. These credits are provided at the point of download.

If you need additional help, please contact NSIDC User Services.