A New Perspective on Four Decades of Changes in Arctic Sea Ice from Satellite Observations
Arctic sea ice characteristics have been changing rapidly and significantly in the last few decades. Using a long-term time series of sea ice products from satellite observations—the extended AVHRR Polar Pathfinder (APP-x)—trends in sea ice concentration, ice extent, ice thickness, and ice volume in...
| Published in: | Remote Sensing |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14081846 https://doaj.org/article/15e2c8237a8e48e3bca78b2374e713ac |
| Summary: | Arctic sea ice characteristics have been changing rapidly and significantly in the last few decades. Using a long-term time series of sea ice products from satellite observations—the extended AVHRR Polar Pathfinder (APP-x)—trends in sea ice concentration, ice extent, ice thickness, and ice volume in the Arctic from 1982 to 2020 are investigated. Results show that the Arctic has become less ice-covered in all seasons, especially in summer and autumn. Arctic sea ice thickness has been decreasing at a rate of −3.24 cm per year, resulting in an approximate 52% reduction in thickness from 2.35 m in 1982 to 1.13 m in 2020. Arctic sea ice volume has been decreasing at a rate of −467.7 km 3 per year, resulting in an approximate 63% reduction in volume, from 27,590.4 km 3 in 1982 to 10,305.5 km 3 in 2020. These trends are further examined from a new perspective, where the Arctic Ocean is classified into open water, perennial, and seasonal sea ice-covered areas based on sea ice persistence. The loss of the perennial sea ice-covered area is a major factor in the total sea ice loss in all seasons. If the current rates of sea ice changes in extent, concentration, and thickness continue, the Arctic is expected to have ice-free summers by the early 2060s. |
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