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Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
Recent Arctic Ice Extent Minima Observed with the Sea Ice Index
Florence Fetterer1, Ken Knowles2, Julienne Stroeve3, Mark Serreze4, Jim Maslanik5, Ted Scambos6, Christoph Oelke7
1National Snow and Ice Data Center, CIRES, 449UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA, Phone 303-492-4421, Fax 303-492-2468, fetterer@nsidc.org
2Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80309-0449, USA, Phone 303-492-0644, Kenneth.Knowles@colorado.edu
3Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80309-0449, USA, Phone 303-492-3584, Fax 303-492-2468, stroeve@kodiak.colorado.edu
4Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80309-0449, USA, Phone 303-492-2963, Fax 303-492-2468, serreze@kryos.colorado.edu
5Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 431 CCAR, Boulder, CO, 80309-0449, USA, Phone 303-492-8974, Fax 303-492-2825, james.maslanik@colorado.edu
6Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80309-0449, USA, Phone 303-492-1113, Fax 303-492-2468, teds@icehouse.colorado.edU
7NSIDC/CIRES, University of Colorado, Campus Box 449, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA, Phone 303-735-0213, Fax 303-492-2468, coelke@kryos.colorado.edu
In September of 2002, arctic sea ice extent reached a minimum unprecedented in 24 years of satellite passive microwave observations, and almost certainly unmatched in 50 years of charting arctic ice (Serreze et al, GRL, 2003). Again in September 2003, ice retreated to an unusually low extent, almost reaching the previous year’s minimum. The Sea Ice Index (http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/), a Web site developed in response to a need for a readily accessible, easy-to-use source of information on sea ice trends and anomalies, assisted in monitoring and diagnosing these extent minima. The NSIDC Near Real-Time DMSP SSM/I Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations processing stream is used to generate monthly mean, trend, and anomaly images. A Web Image Spreadsheet Tool displays archived images back to 1987 in a tabular format for easy comparison of data from different years.
Sea ice extent anomaly images reveal the distinctive characteristics of the 2002 and 2003 summer minima: ice that has retreated well north of its median extent in the East Siberian and Beaufort sectors, as well as the strikingly anomalous lack of ice off east Greenland. We attribute the shape and position of these summer extent contours to persistent high spring temperatures, enhanced cyclonic conditions in July and August, and smaller than usual ice flux through Fram Strait due to larger than normal SLP differences across the strait. Possibly thinner ice cover preceding summer melt may be a factor as well, and is suggested by negative summertime ice concentration anomalies.
Abstract Categories: Changes in the Sea
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