Temporal and regional variability of Arctic sea-ice coverage from satellite data

Ge Peng,Walter N Meier

doi:10.1017/aog.2017.32

Abstract

ABSTRACTWith rapid and accelerated Arctic sea-ice loss, it is beneficial to update and baseline historical change on the regional scales from a consistent, intercalibrated, long-term time series of sea-ice data for understanding regional vulnerability and monitoring ice state for climate adaptation and risk mitigation. In this paper, monthly sea-ice extents (SIEs) derived from a passive microwave sea-ice concentration climate data record for the period of 1979–2015, are used to examine Arctic-wide and regional temporal variability of sea-ice cover and their decadal trends for 15 regions of the Arctic. Three unique types of SIE annual cycles are described. Regions of vulnerability within each of three types to further warming are identified. For the Arctic as a whole, the analysis has found significant changes in both annual SIE maximum and minimum, with −2.41 ± 0.56% per decade and −13.5 ± 2.93% per decade change relative to the 1979–2015 climate average, respectively. On the regional scale, the calculated trends for the annual SIE maximum range from +2.48 to −10.8% decade−1, while the trends for the annual SIE minimum range from 0 to up to −42% decade−1.

Highlights

Arctic sea-ice coverage, especially the summer ice coverage, has been observed to be undergoing accelerated depletion since satellite-based measurements became available in the late 1970s (e.g. Parkinson and others, 1999; Comiso and Nishio, 2008; Peng and others, 2013; Parkinson, 2014; Serreze and Stroeve, 2015)
The 2016 value tied with 2007 for second lowest Arctic sea-ice minimum on record according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Since the late 1970s, satellite measurements have recorded a decrease of 10–15% per decade in the Arctic annual minimum sea-ice extent (SIE), as measured by the area within the 15% concentration contour (e.g. Comiso and Nishio, 2008; Cavalieri and Parkinson, 2012), with a reduction of 49% sea ice in extent based on remotesensing observations (Cavalieri and Parkinson, 2012) and 80% in sea-ice volume based on output from the PanArctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS; Zhang and Rothrock, 2003), relative to the 1979–2000 average

Summary

Introduction

Arctic sea-ice coverage, especially the summer ice coverage, has been observed to be undergoing accelerated depletion since satellite-based measurements became available in the late 1970s (e.g. Parkinson and others, 1999; Comiso and Nishio, 2008; Peng and others, 2013; Parkinson, 2014; Serreze and Stroeve, 2015). The Arctic region as a whole shows a distinct seasonal cycle, with the annual maximum of SIE in March and minimum in September (Fig. 3a).

Results

Conclusion