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Minimum Antarctic Sea Ice 2017
- Visualizations by:
- Lori Perkins
- Scientific consulting by:
- Claire Parkinson and
- Walt Meier
- View full credits
This movie begins at the 2016 Antarctic maximum on August 31, 2016 and shows daily sea ice concentration until the Antarctic minimum on March 3, 2017. The 2017 minimum had only 2.1 million square kilometers of sea ice extent below the previous lowest minimum extext in the satellite record that occurred in 1997.
“There’s a lot of year-to-year variability in both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, but overall, until last year, the trends in the Antarctic for every single month were toward more sea ice,” said Claire Parkinson, a senior sea ice researcher at Goddard. “Last year was stunningly different, with prominent sea ice decreases in the Antarctic. To think that now the Antarctic sea ice extent is actually reaching a record minimum, that’s definitely of interest.”
The images shown here portray the sea ice as it was observed by the AMSR2 instrument onboard the Japanese Shizuku 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. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is shown over the continent.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Visualizers
- Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Cindy Starr (GST)
Writer
- Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia (Telophase)
Scientists
- Claire Parkinson (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Walt Meier (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
Project support
- Joycelyn Thomson Jones (NASA/GSFC)
- Leann Johnson (GST)
Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET)
Sr. data analyst
- Robert Gersten (SGT)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
SHIZUKU (GCOM-W1) 10 km Daily 89 GHz Brightness Temperature (Collected with the AMSR2 sensor)
Credit: AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
See more visualizations using this data setSHIZUKU (GCOM-W1) 10 km Daily Sea Ice Concentration (Collected with the AMSR2 sensor)
Credit: AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
See more visualizations using this data setTerra and Aqua BMNG (A.K.A. Blue Marble: Next Generation) (Collected with the MODIS sensor)
Credit: The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
Dataset can be found at: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/
See more visualizations using this data setNote: 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.
Related pages
Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Another Record Low
March 22, 2017, 9 a.m.
Read moreMusic: Crystal Light by Michael Holborn [PRS] and William Henries [PRS]Complete transcript available. || On March 7, 2017, Arctic sea ice reached its annual wintertime maximum extent, according to scientists at the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA. The Arctic sea ice extent set a record low after a warm winter. Combining the Arctic and Antarctic numbers shows that the planet’s global sea ice levels on Feb. 13 were at their lowest point since satellites began to continuously measure sea ice in 1979. || Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent on March 7, 2017, setting a record low for the third year in a row. || Antarctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent on March 3, 2017.
Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 2022
Sept. 22, 2022, 9 a.m.
Read moreArctic Sea Ice Minimum 2022, Animation || Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice since 1979. Every summer the Arctic ice cap melts down to what scientists call its (GCOM-W1) satellite. Two JAXA datasets used in this animation are the 10-km daily sea ice concentration and the 10 km daily 89 GHz Brightness Temperature.In this animation, the daily Arctic sea ice and seasonal land cover change progress through time, from the yearly maximum ice extent on February 25 2022, through its minimum on September 18 2022. Over the water, Arctic sea ice changes from day to day showing a running 3-day minimum 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 AMSR2 89 GHz brightness temperature. The yellow boundary shows the minimum extent averaged over the 30-year period from 1981 to 2010. Over the terrain, monthly data from the seasonal Blue Marble Next Generation fades slowly from month to month. || Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 2022, Print Resolution Still
Maximum Antarctic Sea Ice 2014
Oct. 7, 2014, 8 a.m.
Read moreAn animation of the Antarctic sea ice between March 21 and September 19, 2014 when the sea ice reached its maximum extent. The red extent line shows the average of the annual maximum extents from 1979 through 2014. This animation displays the daily dates. || 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. || An animation of the Antarctic sea ice between March 21 and September 19, 2014 when the sea ice reached its maximum extent. The red extent line shows the average of the annual maximum extents from 1979 through 2014. No dates are displayed on this version. || A print resolution image of the Antarctic sea ice on Setptember 19, 2014, the date on which the sea ice reached its maximum extent. The red line indicates the average of the annual maximum extents from 1979 through 2014. || A print resolution image of the Antarctic sea ice on Setptember 19, 2014, the date on which the sea ice reached its maximum extent. || A print resolution image with transparency showing the line denoting the average of the maximum sea ice extents from 1979 through 2014.
Untitled
April 10, 2017, 8 a.m.
Read moreA combination of warmer-than-average temperatures, winds unfavorable to ice expansion, and a series of storms halted Arctic sea ice growth. || Explore how sea ice at each pole changes through the seasons || Since November, daily Antarctic sea ice extent has continuously been at its lowest levels in the satellite record. || The Arctic s DC-8 scientific aircraft Oct. 22, 2016.