Earth  ID: 3508

Annual Arctic Minimum Sea Ice from 1979 - 2008 designed for Science On a Sphere (SOS) and WMS

Visualizations by Cindy Starr Released on October 30, 2008
In 2007, Arctic summer sea ice reached its lowest extent on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. At the end of each summer, the sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent and what is left, called the perennial ice cover, consists mainly of thick multi-year ice floes. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached on September 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average.

This visualization shows the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from 1979 to 2008 on a Cartesian grid with a transparent background for use in Science On a Sphere and WMS.

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Yearly Arctic minimum sea ice 1979 -2008 from SSMI/SMMR with a transparent background.

Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Victoria Weeks (HTSI): Video Editor
Michael Starobin (HTSI): Producer
Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3508

Data Used:
DMSP/SSM/I
1979 through 2008
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Microwave Imager
view all stories where this data set is used
Comiso's Yearly Maximum Sea Ice Concentration
Data Compilation - NASA/GSFC - 1979 through 2008
view all stories where this data set is used
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 these series:
Science On a Sphere
SOS Production - FROZEN

Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> Global Warming
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Ice Extent
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice >> Sea Ice Concentration
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Extent
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Ice Extent
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice >> Ice Extent
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Oceans >> Sea Ice >> Ice Growth/Melt
SVS >> Climate Change
SVS >> For Educators
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