Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010
In sharp contrast to the decreasing sea ice coverage of the Arctic, in the Antarctic the sea ice cover has, on average, expanded since the late 1970s. More specifically, satellite passive-microwave data for the period November 1978 - December 2010 reveal an overall positive trend in ice extents of 1...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20120009528 2023-05-15T14:05:05+02:00 Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 Cavalieri, D. J. Parkinson, C. L. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available February 2012 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20120009528 unknown Document ID: 20120009528 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20120009528 No Copyright CASI Meteorology and Climatology GSFC.JA.6195.2012 GSFC.JA.6290.2012 2012 ftnasantrs 2019-07-21T06:21:27Z In sharp contrast to the decreasing sea ice coverage of the Arctic, in the Antarctic the sea ice cover has, on average, expanded since the late 1970s. More specifically, satellite passive-microwave data for the period November 1978 - December 2010 reveal an overall positive trend in ice extents of 17,100 +/- 2,300 square km/yr. Much of the increase, at 13,700 +/- 1,500 square km/yr, has occurred in the region of the Ross Sea, with lesser contributions from the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean. One region, that of the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas, has, like the Arctic, instead experienced significant sea ice decreases, with an overall ice extent trend of -8,200 +/- 1,200 square km/yr. When examined through the annual cycle over the 32-year period 1979-2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice cover as a whole experienced positive ice extent trends in every month, ranging in magnitude from a low of 9,100 +/- 6,300 square km/yr in February to a high of 24,700 +/- 10,000 square km/yr in May. The Ross Sea and Indian Ocean also had positive trends in each month, while the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas had negative trends in each month, and the Weddell Sea and Western Pacific Ocean had a mixture of positive and negative trends. Comparing ice-area results to ice-extent results, in each case the ice-area trend has the same sign as the ice-extent trend, but differences in the magnitudes of the two trends identify regions with overall increasing ice concentrations and others with overall decreasing ice concentrations. The strong pattern of decreasing ice coverage in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas region and increasing ice coverage in the Ross Sea region is suggestive of changes in atmospheric circulation. This is a key topic for future research. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Ross Sea Sea ice Weddell Sea NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Sea Ross Sea Pacific Indian Weddell |
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Open Polar |
collection |
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
op_collection_id |
ftnasantrs |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology and Climatology |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology and Climatology Cavalieri, D. J. Parkinson, C. L. Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Climatology |
description |
In sharp contrast to the decreasing sea ice coverage of the Arctic, in the Antarctic the sea ice cover has, on average, expanded since the late 1970s. More specifically, satellite passive-microwave data for the period November 1978 - December 2010 reveal an overall positive trend in ice extents of 17,100 +/- 2,300 square km/yr. Much of the increase, at 13,700 +/- 1,500 square km/yr, has occurred in the region of the Ross Sea, with lesser contributions from the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean. One region, that of the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas, has, like the Arctic, instead experienced significant sea ice decreases, with an overall ice extent trend of -8,200 +/- 1,200 square km/yr. When examined through the annual cycle over the 32-year period 1979-2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice cover as a whole experienced positive ice extent trends in every month, ranging in magnitude from a low of 9,100 +/- 6,300 square km/yr in February to a high of 24,700 +/- 10,000 square km/yr in May. The Ross Sea and Indian Ocean also had positive trends in each month, while the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas had negative trends in each month, and the Weddell Sea and Western Pacific Ocean had a mixture of positive and negative trends. Comparing ice-area results to ice-extent results, in each case the ice-area trend has the same sign as the ice-extent trend, but differences in the magnitudes of the two trends identify regions with overall increasing ice concentrations and others with overall decreasing ice concentrations. The strong pattern of decreasing ice coverage in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas region and increasing ice coverage in the Ross Sea region is suggestive of changes in atmospheric circulation. This is a key topic for future research. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Cavalieri, D. J. Parkinson, C. L. |
author_facet |
Cavalieri, D. J. Parkinson, C. L. |
author_sort |
Cavalieri, D. J. |
title |
Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 |
title_short |
Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 |
title_full |
Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2010 |
title_sort |
antarctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979-2010 |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20120009528 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Sea Ross Sea Pacific Indian Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Sea Ross Sea Pacific Indian Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Ross Sea Sea ice Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Ross Sea Sea ice Weddell Sea |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20120009528 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20120009528 |
op_rights |
No Copyright |
_version_ |
1766276725196455936 |