Weekly Animation of Arctic Sea Ice Age with Graph of Ice Age by Percent of Total: 1984 - 2016

This visualization begins by showing the dynamic beauty of the Arctic sea ice as it responds to winds and ocean currents. Research into the behavior of the Arctic sea ice for the last 30 years has led to a deeper understanding of how this ice survives from year to year. In the animation that follows, age of the sea ice is visible, showing the younger ice in darker shades of blue and the oldest ice in brighter white. This visual representation of the ice age clearly shows how the quantity of older and thicker ice has changed between 1984 and 2016.Complete transcript available.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. Data may encapsulate the events of a single second or many years; it may span a small patch of Earth or entire systems of suns and planets. Visualizing data within its natural environment maximizes the potential for learning and discovery. Scientific visualization can clarify data’s relationships in time and space. In this visualization, the issue of the declining sea ice near the North Pole is set in its natural configuration. An analysis of the age of the Arctic sea ice indicates that it traditionally became older while circulating in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and was then primarily lost in the warmer regions along the eastern coast of Greenland. In recent years, however, warmer water in the Beaufort Sea, possibly from the Bering Strait, often melts away the sea ice in the summer before it can get older. The same as the above visualization without the title and arrow overlays. This version has no audio. An image showing how the Arctic sea ice used to circulate for many years in the Beaufort Gyre north of Alaska getting older and thicker over time. An image showing how the sea ice moves out of the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait and into the North Atlantic where it melts. This image shows the difference in the quantity of the older sea ice from September 1984 to September 2016. An image showing the Arctic sea ice age in September 1984. An image showing the Arctic sea ice age in September 2016. The initial visualization showing the dynamic beauty of the sea ice without dates. The dates that correspond with the visualization above.

This visualization shows the age of the sea ice between 1984 and 2016. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. Two bar graphs, described below, are shown in the lower left and right corners. This video is also available on our YouTube channel. One significant change in the Arctic region in recent years has been the rapid decline in perennial sea ice. Perennial sea ice, also known as multi-year ice, is the portion of the sea ice that survives the summer melt season. Perennial ice may have a life-span of nine years or more and represents the thickest component of the sea ice; perennial ice can grow up to four meters thick. By contrast, first year ice that grows during a single winter is generally at most two meters thick.Below is an animation of the weekly sea ice age between 1984 and 2016. The animation shows the seasonal variability of the ice, growing in the Arctic winter and melting in the summer. In addition, this also shows the changes from year to year, depicting the age of the sea ice in different colors. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. A color scale identifies the age of the intermediary years.A graph in the lower, right corner the quantifies the change over time by showing the area in millions of square kilometers covered by each age category of perennial sea ice. This graph also includes a memory bar - the green line that here represents the current maximum value seen thus far in the animation for the particular week displayed. For example, when showing the first week in September, the memory bar will show the maximum value seen for all prior years first week of September since the beginning of the animation (January 1, 1984).A graph in the lower, left corner the quantifies the change over time by showing each age category of sea ice as a percent of total ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. The lavender outline on the map indicates the spatial region covered by the Arctic Ocean and thus included in the graph. This visualization shows the age of the sea ice between 1984 and 2016. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. The colorbar is displayed in the upper left corner along with the current month and year. The weekly sea ice age without the any overlay. The overlay that includes both graphs, the date, colorbar and outline of the Arctic Ocean with transparency.

One significant change in the Arctic region in recent years has been the rapid decline in perennial sea ice. Perennial sea ice, also known as multi-year ice, is the portion of the sea ice that survives the summer melt season. Perennial ice may have a life-span of nine years or more and represents the thickest component of the sea ice; perennial ice can grow up to four meters thick. By contrast, first year ice that grows during a single winter is generally at most two meters thick.Below is an animation of the weekly sea ice age between 1984 and 2016. The animation shows the seasonal variability of the ice, growing in the Arctic winter and melting in the summer. In addition, this also shows the changes from year to year, depicting the age of the sea ice in different colors. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. A color scale identifies the age of the intermediary years.A graph in the lower, right corner the quantifies the change over time by showing the area in millions of square kilometers covered by each age category of perennial sea ice. This graph also includes a memory bar - the green line that here represents the current maximum value seen thus far in the animation for the particular week displayed. For example, when showing the first week in September, the memory bar will show the maximum value seen for all prior years on 10/30/2016. This visualization shows the age of the Arctic sea ice between 1984 and 2016. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. A bar graph displayed in the lower right corner quantifies the area in square kilometers covered by each age category of perennial sea ice. This visualization is the same as the one above, except that the areas where no data is available are displayed in the first 330 frames. This animation is the same as the one above, except that the animation begins in January of 2000. A still image of the sea ice age for week 37 of 2016 with a graph overlay showing the remaining millions of kilometers of sea ice by age. A still image of the sea ice age for week 37 of 1984 with a graph overlay showing the remaining millions of kilometers of sea ice by age. The weekly sea ice age without the graph overlay. The overlay with the graph of the annual sea ice minimum showing the perennial sea ice by age in square kilometers with transparency.