Seasonal Antarctic Sea Ice

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  • 
    ID: 4368 Visualization

    Maximum Antarctic Sea Ice 2015

    Oct. 20th, 2015
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Above is an image of the Antarctic sea ice on October 6, 2015, the day on which it reached its annual maximum extent. The date is also displayed. || The Antarctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent on October 6, 2015. The images shown here portray the sea ice as it was observed by the AMSR2 instrument onboard the Japanese Suzaku satellite. The opacity of the sea ice is derived from the AMSR2 sea ice concentration. The blueish white color of the sea ice is derived from the AMSR2 89 GHz brightness temperature. In some of the images, a thin red line demarks the average maximum sea ice extent from 1981 through 2010. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is shown over the continent. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4219 Visualization

    Maximum Antarctic Sea Ice 2014

    Oct. 7th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    In this animation we see the Antarctic sea ice expansion from March, 21, 2014 through September 19, 2014, the date on which the sea ice reached its maximum annual extent. Over the water, the opacity of the sea ice is determined by a running 3-day maximum of the AMSR2 sea ice concentration. The blueish white color of the sea ice is a false color derived from a 3-day running minimum of the AMSR2 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. ||

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  • 
    ID: 3854 Visualization

    AMSR-E Antarctic Sea Ice

    Oct. 24th, 2011
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    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.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). ||

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  • 
    ID: 10826 Produced Video

    Sea Ice Factories

    Sept. 29th, 2011
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Strong winds rush down the sides of the steep Antarctic ice sheet in winter, blowing frigid air against the sprawling sea ice pack that surrounds the continent. Heavy gusts send ice floes—geometric blocks of floating ice—drifting out to sea, exposing patches of dark-blue ocean between coastal sea ice and frozen land. Beneath the surface of these nascent pools, called polynyas, tiny ice crystals grow. The action of wind and waves push budding crystals together, creating thin films of ice on the ocean surface that increase in thickness over time. Parts of the sea ice pack will encounter warm ocean waters where they melt. By late summer, most of Antarctica's sea ice will have disappeared. The process is part of a natural cycle that scientists monitor closely to better understand its role in the global climate system. Since 1979, the total aerial extent of Antarctic sea ice has increased by less than one percent per decade, though measurement differences of 20 percent or more above or below the average extent have been observed from year-to-year. In the visualization below, watch how sea ice cover in the Antarctic changes from May 2009 through July 2010. ||

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  • 
    ID: 3497 Visualization

    AMSR-E Antarctic Sea Ice

    March 18th, 2008
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Antarctica is a land mass surrounded by an ocean which allows the sea ice here to move more freely than it does in the Northern Hemisphere. Because there are no surrounding continents to limit its movement, the sea ice is free to float northward into warmer waters where it eventually melts. As a result, almost all of the sea ice that forms during the Antarctic winter melts during the summer. During the winter, up to 18 million square kilometers (6.9 million square miles) of ocean is covered by sea ice, but by the end of summer, only about 3 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles) of sea ice remain. Both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent are characterized by fairly large variations from year to year. The monthly average extent can vary by as much as 1 million square kilometers (386,102 square miles) from the year-to-year monthly average. The area covered by Antarctic sea ice has shown a small increasing trend.The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor which is not so sensitive to atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfall. The false color in this animation of sea ice surrounding the South Pole is derived from the daily AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature while the sea ice extent is derived from the daily AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration. The sea ice extent shown is generated using a three day moving average where the daily sea ice concentration is at least 15%. This animation progresses at a rate of four frames per day from June 4, 2005 through November 18, 2005. ||

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