Earth  ID: 3167

September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration, 1979-2004 (WMS)

Visualizations by Cindy Starr Released on June 4, 2005
Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Because the extent of the sea ice is important both for the Arctic marine ecology and for the role it plays in the Earth's climate, understanding the variation of this extent during the year and from year-to-year is vital. Each year, the minimum sea ice extent in the northern hemisphere occurs at the end of summer, in September. By comparing the extent of the sea ice in September over many successive years, long term trends in the polar climate can be assessed. This animation shows the minimum sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere in September between 1979 and 2004. Since 1999, this minimum has shown an ice extent that is consistently 10% to 15% smaller than the average extent over the past 20 years.
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This animation shows the minimum sea ice concentration in the northern hemisphere during September between 1978 and 2004.

This product is available through our Web Map Service.
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Color bar for the sea ice concentration.

Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Eric Sokolowsky (GST): Animator
Walt Meier (NSIDC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3167

Data Used:
Nimbus-7/SMMR
09/1979 - 1992
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NSIDC SSMI-derived September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration
Data Compilation - NSIDC - 06/1987 - 09/2004
Date: 2004
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DMSP/SSM/I/Sea Ice Concentration
06/1987 - 09/2004
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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.

This item is part of this series:
WMS

Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Sea Ice Concentration
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice >> Sea Ice Concentration
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0