A newer version of this visualization is available.
Sea Ice Minimum Concentration 3-year moving averages for 1979-1981 to 2004-2006
Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. This animation shows a 3-year moving average of the perennial ice cover, or minimum sea ice concentration, for from 1979-1981 through 2004-2006. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. This decrease is evident in the animation shown here.
This is an update of animation ID #3267.
Sea ice concentration3-year moving average from 1979-1981 through 2004-2006.

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1979-1981

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1989-1982

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1981-1983

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1982-1984

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1983-1985

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1984-1986

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1985-1987

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1986-1988

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1987-1989

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1988-1990

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1989-1991

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1990-1992

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1991-1993

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1992-1994

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1993-1995

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1994-1996

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1995-1997

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1996-1998

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1997-1999

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1998-2000

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 1999-2001

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 2000-2002

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 2001-2003

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 2002-2004

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 2003-2005

Sea ice concentration 3-year average from 2004-2006
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
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Visualizer
- Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Animator
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
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Scientist
- Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Friday, August 31, 2007.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:55 PM EDT.
Missions
This page is related to the following missions:Datasets used
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[DMSP: SSM/I]
ID: 11Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Microwave Imager
See all pages that use this dataset -
September Sea Ice Concentration Anomaly [Nimbus-7: SSMR]
ID: 421 -
Monthly Average Precipitation [TRMM: PR and TMI]
ID: 516This dataset can be found at: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/datapool/TRMM/01_Data_Products/index.html
See all pages that use this dataset -
Comiso's September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration
ID: 540
Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.