MMAB Sea Ice Analysis Page
Starting 19 June 2012, sea ice concentration analysis is done using
the SSMI on DMSP F-15, and SSMI-S on DMSP F-17.
Starting 11 October 2011, sea ice concentration alaysis was done using
SSMI on DMSP F-15.
From May 2009 to 4 October 2011, when data stopped, sea ice concentration
analysis was done with AMSR-E data and the NASA TEAM2 algorithm. The
high resolution grid is unchanged, still 12.7 km resolution. SSMI F-13
was used until it ceased providing data entirely late 2009. F-15 was
removed from use in February 2009 due to excessive data contamination
on one of the sensors used for clearing weather. This did not affect
ice concentrations themselves, but lead to erroneously considering areas
to be ice, or not ice, in the weather filter.
We are working, albeit slowly, towards a re-analysis of the period in 2009
when particular instruments were becoming unreliable, and new instruments
were being added. Other instruments currently available will be added to
the analysis as possible.
One noticeable change in the analysis from May, 2009 to October 2011 versus
earlier and later periods, is that there is more area of high concentration, and
concentrations are higher. Consequently,
computations of area from the analysis grids will be biased high compared
to earlier times.
Last Modified 2 July 2012.
High Resolution (12.7 km) Ice
Current High Resolution Ice Analyses
Global
Northern Hemisphere
Great Lakes
Laurentian Lakes and Hudson Bay
Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan
Southern Hemisphere
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Lower (25.4 km) Resolution Current Ice
Interpreting the Images
How the ice grids are constructed
Details on the regional images
The current sea ice state is important for both modeling efforts,
such as the sea ice model and the global weather model, and for sea ice
analysts, such as at the Anchorage
WFO. Consequently we produce two sorts of field. One is suitable for
use by models, the global field. And the other is suitable for use by an
analyst. The analyst can apply intelligence and additional data sources
to produce a superior final product in his area of responsibility.
For suggestions on the interpretation of these images, please click
on the word advice
here. For more detail on the source of the images, select the 'about' link
below. For much more detail on the data source, quality control, and processing
methods, see the Automated
Passive Microwave Analysis ... document.
Sea ice history and climatology information, including animations of
the ice cover, is
at http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/seaice/Historical.html
The Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere ice concentration
images are live maps. If you select a point on these images, you'll get
a magnified image of the region for about 550 km (300 nautical miles) around
that point. The orientation of the maps may be different from the full
hemisphere image. Please click
here for an explanation.
Please e-mail errors or additional analysis sites to
Robert.Grumbine@noaa.gov
Most Recent NCEP Automated Ice Concentration Fields
Interpreting the Images
Previous Alaska Region Maps
NCEP MMAB Interactive Sea Ice Image Generation
Animation Alaska Region
Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan - current figure
Click on a point in the northern hemisphere map to get a magnified view of
ice in that vicinity.
Animated Northern Hemisphere
NCEP MMAB Interactive Sea Ice Image Generation
Click on a point in the southern hemisphere map to get a magnified view of
ice in that vicinity.
Global ice cover as used for numerical weather, wave, and ocean prediction.
Sea Ice Daily Analyses and Images
More about the sea ice group
Links to other polar work
Return to main sea ice page
Return to MMAB products page
Return to Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch main page
Reciprocal Links -- pages that reference the MMAB sea ice page, so might also be of interest
