National Snow & Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center

nasa-nsidcdaac-0063

Global Annual Freezing and Thawing Indices

The total annual freezing and thawing indices are defined as the cumulative number of degree-days when air temperatures are below and above zero degrees Celsius. The total annual freezing index has been widely used to predict permafrost distribution; estimate the maximum thickness of sea, lake, and river ice, and the maximum depth of ground-frost penetration; and classify snow types. The annual total thawing index has been used to predict permafrost distribution and to estimate the maximum depth of thaw in frozen ground. Both total freezing and thawing indices are important parameters for engineering design in cold regions. Data coverage is global. The data set contains the total annual freezing and thawing indices with a spatial resolution of 0.5 degrees latitude by 0.5 degrees longitude. Two data files are available, for the freeze and thaw indices respectively, in flat binary format. Each file is approximately 1 MB in size. The total annual freezing and thawing indexes were calculated based upon the monthly mean air temperature by Legates and Willmott (1990).

http://nsidc.org/data/NSIDC-0063

Identified by : NSIDC-0063

This dataset was released on January 01, 1998.

The spatial range for this dataset is -90° to 90° latitude, and -180° to 180° longitude. map (center)

DOI : 10.5067/TT6J3BH5YSSR
Also known as :

• identifier b38abab2-0c07-42e0-bc70-e663853fc7bb (datagov lexicon)
• dataset global-annual-freezing-and-thawing-indices (datagov lexicon)
• dataset oai:nsidc/NSIDC-0063 (nsidc lexicon)