Earth  ID: 3915

Multi-year Arctic Sea Ice

There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4251
The most visible change in the Arctic region in recent years has been the rapid decline of the perennial ice cover. The perennial ice is the portion of the sea ice floating on the surface of the ocean that survives the summer. This ice that spans multiple years represents the thickest component of the sea ice cover.

This visualization shows the perennial Arctic sea ice from 1980 to 2012. This is not the sea ice minimum, which occurs in September each year. This measures the perennial sea ice that survives the summer and thus exists for longer than a one-year time span. The measurement for this sea ice was taken during the months of November, December and January each year. The date assigned to the data point is the year of the last measurement (January). The grey disk at the North Pole indicates the region where no satellite data is collected. A graph overlay shows the area's size measured in million square kilometers for each year. The '1980','2008', and '2012' data points are highlighted on the graph.

 

Newer Version


Related


Related Documentation

Comiso_jcli-d-11-00113_2E1.pdf

Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Stuart A. Snodgrass (GST): Video Editor
Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer
Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
James W. Williams (GST): Project Support
Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia (Telophase): Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3915

Data Used:
DMSP/SSM/I/Comiso's Multi-year Sea Ice Concentration
Data Compilation - NASA/GSFC
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Snow/Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Ice Depth/Thickness
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Ice Growth/Melt
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Ice Types
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Sea Ice Concentration
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Depth/Thickness
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Growth/Melt
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice >> Ice Depth/Thickness
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice >> Ice Growth/Melt
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0