Early 2016 Winter Storm Melts Arctic Sea Ice

  • Released Thursday, November 10, 2016
  • Updated Monday, November 14, 2016 at 1:45PM
  • ID: 4520

This visualization starts with a global view of the Western hemisphere. The viewer then moves in over the arctic on December 27, 2015. Winds and air temperature fade in as time moves forward. A low pressure system then moves in pushing warm air ahead of it. The warm air moves over the Arctic sea ice, contributing to dramatic melting of the sea ice concentration in this region.

Arctic sea ice grows during the winter months, reaching its largest extent sometime in March. When something disrupts the cold, dry, winter Arctic atmosphere, sea ice can feel the effects, and these impacts may linger through the season. At the end of December 2015, a low pressure system formed in the north Atlantic and swept into the central Arctic, disrupting sea ice formation. As a result of this weather event, the concentration of sea ice in this region decreased by around ten percent. Sea ice extent stayed low throughout the month of January and large parts of the region remained unseasonably ice-free, which probably helped contribute to a record low Arctic sea ice maximum.
Sea ice concentration difference colorbar from December 28, 2015 to January 6, 2016. Deepening blue indicates more sea ice concentration. Deepening red indicates less sea ice concentration.

Sea ice concentration difference colorbar from December 28, 2015 to January 6, 2016. Deepening blue indicates more sea ice concentration. Deepening red indicates less sea ice concentration.

Air temperature colorbar.

Air temperature colorbar.

Print resolution still showing the difference in sea ice concentration from December 28, 2015 to January 6, 2016.

Print resolution still showing the difference in sea ice concentration from December 28, 2015 to January 6, 2016.

Print resolution still showing both the sea ice concentration difference along with air temperature and wind data.

Print resolution still showing both the sea ice concentration difference along with air temperature and wind data.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Papers

This visualization is based on the following papers:

Datasets used in this visualization

Aqua Sea Ice Concentration (A.K.A. Daily L3 12.5km Tb, Sea Ice Concentration, and Snow Depth) (Collected with the AMSR-E sensor)
See more visualizations using this data set
Aqua Temperature (Collected with the AIRS sensor)
Observed Data12/27/2015 - 1/6/2016
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MERRA-2 Winds
Model12/27/2015 - 1/6/2016
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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.

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