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).", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 350853, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3854/#media_group_350853", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This animation shows the sea ice around Antarctica with a star background. ", "items": [ { "id": 326775, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 483268, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003854/Antarctic_comp.0500.jpg", "filename": "Antarctic_comp.0500.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation shows the sea ice around Antarctica with a star background. 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The date is also displayed. || Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_Date_noAve.7768_print.jpg (1024x576) [78.1 KB] || Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_Date_noAve.7768_searchweb.png (320x180) [69.9 KB] || Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_Date_noAve.7768_thm.png (80x40) [5.4 KB] || Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_1080p_wDate_noAve.7768.tif (1920x1080) [2.0 MB] || Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_Print_wDate_noAve.7768.tif (5760x3240) [15.1 MB] || ", "release_date": "2015-10-20T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T00:06:25.127198-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 438496, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004300/a004368/Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_Date_noAve.7768_print.jpg", "filename": "Antarctic_seaIce_max_2015_Date_noAve.7768_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "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.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 11703, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11703/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "The Arctic and the Antarctic Respond in Opposite Ways", "description": "The Arctic and the Antarctic are regions that have a lot of ice and acts as air conditioners for the Earth system. This year, Antarctic sea ice reached a record maximum extent while the Arctic reached a minimum extent in the top ten lowest since satellite records began. One reason we are seeing differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic is due to their different geographies. As for what's causing the sea increase in the Antarctic, scientists are also studying ocean temperatures, possible changes in wind direction and, overall, how the region is responding to changes in the climate.Here is the YouTube video. || ", "release_date": "2014-10-08T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:27.803483-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 450705, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011703/G2014-093-Antarctic-1920-master_youtube_hq_print.jpg", "filename": "G2014-093-Antarctic-1920-master_youtube_hq_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 11125, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11125/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Surrounded", "description": "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. || ", "release_date": "2012-11-13T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:38.580964-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 471233, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011125/still_Wideangle_1080_searchweb.png", "filename": "still_Wideangle_1080_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "At the South Pole, Antarctica was shrouded by more winter sea ice than at any time on record.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 3862, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3862/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Seasonal Antarctic Sea Ice", "description": "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. 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 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 portrays the changes in the sea ice from May 26, 2009 through July 29, 2010. || ", "release_date": "2011-09-29T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-05T22:04:22.222879-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 483104, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003862/Antarctic_Wdates.2031.jpg", "filename": "Antarctic_Wdates.2031.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation shows the advance and retreat of the Antarctic sea ice with a star background and a date overlay.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }