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Trends in the Length of the Southern Ocean Sea Ice Season: 1979-1999Satellite data can be used to observe the sea ice distribution around the continent of Antarctica on a daily basis and hence to determine how many days a year have sea ice at each location. This has been done for each of the 21 years 1979-1999. Mapping the trends in these data over the 21-year period reveals a detailed pattern of changes in the length of the sea ice season around Antarctica. Most of the Ross Sea ice cover has undergone a lengthening of the sea ice season, whereas most of the Amundsen Sea ice cover and almost the entire Bellingshausen Sea ice cover have undergone a shortening of the sea ice season. Results around the rest of the continent, including in the Weddell Sea, are more mixed, but overall, more of the Southern Ocean experienced a lengthening of the sea ice season than a shortening. For instance, the area experiencing a lengthening of the sea ice season by at least 1 day per year is 5.8 x 10(exp 6) sq km, whereas the area experiencing a shortening of the sea ice season by at least 1 day per year is less than half that, at 2.8 x 10(exp 6) sq km. This contrasts sharply with what is happened over the same period in the Arctic, where, overall, there has been some depletion of the ice cover, including shortened sea ice seasons and decreased ice extents.
Document ID
20010037608
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Parkinson, Claire L. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Zukor, Dorothy J.
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2001
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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