$68 million NASA contract awarded to CU Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center

NASA selected the University of Colorado Boulder for a $68 million contract to continue managing its snow and ice data center on campus.

CU Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center was selected to continue managing NASA’s snow and ice data through its Distributed Active Archive Center. NSIDC conducts research and provides data to better understand how the frozen parts of the planet are changing because of climate change.

This is the seventh time NASA has renewed this contract with the NSIDC DAAC, the partnership beginning in 1993.

Mark Serreze is the director of the NSIDC and a distinguished professor of geography. He said the contract is key in helping advance climate change research. Because humanity is “conducting a grand, global experiment” that is climate change, Serreze said, nobody knows with certainty what will happen.

“What’s going to happen in Colorado, to our snowpack in Colorado? When will we lose the sea ice in summer in the Arctic Ocean? How fast will Greenland contribute to sea level rise?” Serreze said. “These are all very important questions, and if we’re going to answer these important questions, we’ve got to have the data to be able to answer these questions. And that’s why it’s so important. If you don’t have the data, there’s not much you can say.”

Through this contract, data collected by NASA relating to snow and ice goes through the NSIDC DAAC where it is processed and archived on the Earth Observing System Data and Information Systems. On the EOSDIS website, the data is free for public use. It’s also largely used by scientists around the world and for educational purposes.

The total potential value of the contract is $68,179,012, according to a NASA news release. It began April 1 and runs through March 31, 2024. The contract includes up to four one-year extensions, which if exercised, would extend the period of performance through May 31, 2028.

Serreze said the NSIDC has three parts — data management through NASA and the DAAC, research on the cryosphere and an educational component.

While the $68 million contract with NASA is for data management, Serreze said it also allows the NSIDC to do research and projects it wouldn’t normally be able to do.

“The importance of this contract is it provides a kind of core for the organization that other projects can build upon,” Serreze said. For example, it allows the NSIDC to use certain software and programs for projects it wouldn’t normally have.

Amanda Leon, manager of the NASA DAAC at NSIDC, said there are 12 DAACs operated by NASA around the country, each with a different focus. CU Boulder’s DAAC focuses on managing NASA’s snow and ice data, and is one of only three DAACs located at a university. The others are located at Columbia University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“CU Boulder has a very strong science and technology reputation, and so the research awards and contracts like this really help to bolster CU Boulder’s stance within the different science communities,” Leon said.

Serreze said the NSIDC is doing research on the cryosphere with Arctic sea ice, the Greenland ice sheet and what’s happening to snow and permafrost. One of the goals of the NSIDC is to increase public awareness of issues on climate and what’s happening to the planet’s snow and ice.

“We’ve been around for a long time and we anticipate being around for a long time, and I think our value to our planet is only growing,” Serreze said.