Surrounded
-
- Visualizations by:
- Cindy Starr
-
- Written by:
- Patrick Lynch
-
- Scientific consulting by:
- Josefino Comiso
- View full credits
The massive apron of sea ice that encircles Antarctica at the end of each winter has been steadily expanding. From 1978 to 2010, Antarctic sea ice has grown on average each year by an area about equal to the size of Connecticut. In October 2012 Antarctic sea ice covered a record 7.5 million square miles, more than twice the land area of the contiguous U.S. The sea ice around Antarctica melts almost completely each summer and then grows rapidly each winter. Scientists think a change in atmospheric circulation could be contributing to the ice growth. The continent's unsheltered coastline allows harsh winds to push the ice out into the ocean, and as these winds have strengthened in recent years sea ice has expanded. The visualization uses NASA satellite data to show how winter sea ice completely engulfs Antarctica.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sea ice photo courtesy of Michael Studinger
-
Animators
- Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
- Trent L. Schindler (USRA)
-
Writer
- Patrick Lynch (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
-
Scientist
- Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
-
Producers
- Duncan Copp (Houston Symphony)
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
-
Project support
- James W. Williams (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
- Shiloh Heurich (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Related Pages
-
-
ID: 3854 Visualization
AMSR-E Antarctic Sea Ice
Read moreSea 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.In this animation, the Antarctic sea ice progresses through time from May 26, 2009 through July 31, 2010. Over the water, Arctic sea ice changes from day to day showing a running 3-day average sea ice concentration in the region where the concentration is greater than 15%. The blueish white color of the sea ice is derived from a 3-day running minimum of the AMSR-E 89 GHz brightness temperature. Over the Antarctic continent, the LIMA data shown here uses the pan-chromatic band and has a resolution of 240 meters per pixel. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) is a data product funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and jointly produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ||
-