Earth ID: 3991

Sea Ice Yearly Minimum 1979-2012 (SSMI data) with Graph

Visualizations by Cindy Starr Released on September 19, 2012

There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5170

The continued significant reduction in the area covered by the summer sea ice is a dramatic illustration of the pronounced impact increased global temperatures are having on the Arctic regions. There has also been a significant reduction in the relative amount of older, thicker ice. Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice cover have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice cover since 1979. The ice parameters derived from satellite ice concentration data that are most relevant to climate change studies are sea ice extent and ice area. This visualization shows the annual September minimum sea ice area in the background and a graph of the ice area values foreground. The ice area provides the total area actually covered by sea ice which is useful for estimating the total volume and therefore mass, given the average ice thickness. For more information about these ice datasets, see The Journal of Geophysical Research VOL. 113, C02S07, doi:10.1029/2007JC004257, 2008

This visualization shows the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from 1979 to 2012. A semi-transparent graph is overlaid that shows the area in million square kilometers for each year's minimum day. The '1979', '2007', and '2012' data points are highlighted on the graph.

For high resolution still images of the 1979 and 2012 September sea ice minimum, see visualization #3998.

Newer Versions

Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer
Patrick Lynch (Wyle Information Systems): Producer
Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Robert Gersten (Wyle Information Systems): Scientist
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3991

Data Used:

Comiso's September Minimum Sea Ice Concentration

Data Compilation - NASA/GSFC - 1979 - 2012

view all stories where this data set is used

DMSP/SSM/I

1979 - 2012

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Microwave Imager

view all stories where this data set is used

DMSP/SSM/I/Sea Ice Concentration

1979 - 2012

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 this series:
Arctic Annual Sea Ice Minimum with Graph Overlay

Keywords:
DLESE >> Cryology
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Cryosphere >> Sea Ice
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