Earth ID: 4440

Arctic Sea Ice Maximum - 2016

Visualizations by Cindy Starr Released on March 28, 2016

There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4564

The maximum Arctic sea ice extent appears to have occurred on March 24, 2016, reaching an extent of 14.52 million square kilometers (5.607 million square miles). This is below the previous lowest maximum recorded in 2015 when it reached 14.54 million square kilometers (5.612 million square miles). Overall, there is a declining trend in the maximum extent of about 2.8 % per decade. This is much smaller than the summer trends, but also reflects the long-term warming trend in the Arctic.

While a low maximum gives the extent a head start heading into summer, it turns out that there is not much relation between the maximum and summer minimum and a record low maximum does not portend a record low minimum. This is because the ice near the edge at the time of the maximum is thin, seasonal ice that will melt out early in the summer. The weather conditions in the Arctic during the summer melt season is the most crucial in determining whether a record low is possible in any given year.

In this animation, the Arctic sea ice area is derived from a running 3-day maximum of the AMSR2 sea ice concentration 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 that is linearly mapped between the high and low values.

An image of the Arctic sea ice on March 24, 2016 with an orange line showing the 30-year average sea ice extent for the month of March.

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Visualization Credits

Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Walt Meier (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Josefino Comiso (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Robert Gersten (Wyle Information Systems): Sr. Data Analyst
Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer
Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia (Telophase): Producer
Michelle Handleman (USRA): Producer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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Missions:
Aqua
Terra

Data Used:

Monthly Sea Ice Index

Data Compilation - NSIDC - March

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SHIZUKU (GCOM-W1)/AMSR2/10 km Daily Sea Ice Concentration

Observed Data - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - 10/01/2014 - 2/25/2015

Credit:
AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

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SHIZUKU (GCOM-W1)/AMSR2/10 km Daily 89 GHz Brightness Temperature

Observed Data - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - 10/01/2014 - 2/25/2015

Credit:
AMSR2 data courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

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Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Blue Marble: Next Generation also referred to as: BMNG

2004

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/

Credit:
The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).

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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.

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

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