The opening session of the 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry (Mon 24 Sep 08:55-13:00 UTC) will be live streamed for those who cannot unfortunately attend this event: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Live_25_years_of_radar_altimetry
or
http://www.esa.int/live You can view and download the full program at: https://www.altimetry2018.org/ 

Keeping score on Earth's rising seas (Nasa's Sea Level, 18/09/2018) Hurricane Florence is a climate change triple threat (The Guardian , 14/09/2018) ICESat-2: Tracking Earth's Ice with Unparalleled Detail (Space.com, 13/09/2018) Antarctique : l’un des plus grands icebergs jamais vus prend le large (Futura Sciences, 18/09/2018) La NASA lance un laser en orbite pour mesurer la fonte des glaces (Le Monde, 15/09/2018) Comment les ouragans sont-ils classés ? (Le Monde, 12/09/2018) Météo: 70% de probabilité d'un phénomène El Niño à la fin de l'année (Sciences & avenir, 10/09/2018) On line availability of articles depends on the Newspaper/magazine. We can't thus certify that above articles will be freely and permanently available.

The seasonal minimum of Arctic sea ice extent is imminent; extent at the minimum is likely to be the sixth lowest in the satellite record, tied with 2008.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for September 17, 2018 was 4.60 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

On September 17, Arctic sea ice extent stood at 4.60 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles). This was 1.69 million square kilometers (653,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average extent for this day of year, but 1.21 million square kilometers (467,000 square miles) above the record low for this day of year set in 2012. With the onset of autumn, air temperatures are dropping across the Arctic. The seasonal minimum extent is imminent. The Arctic’s minimum sea ice extent is likely to be the 6th lowest in the 39-year satellite record. Cool conditions in July played a large role in slowing the rate of summer ice loss. The Northern Sea Route nevertheless appears to be navigable. The Northwest Passage, including both the Northern and Southern routes, will not open this year. A remnant island of sea ice north of Alaska—well separated from the main area of pack ice and discussed in our previous post—is almost certain to survive the melt season.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of September 17, 2018, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2018 is shown in blue, 2017 in green, 2016 in orange, 2015 in brown, 2014 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the difference from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for September 1 to 16, 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows the average sea level pressure in the Arctic, in degrees Celsius, for September 1 to 16, 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average air pressures; blues and purples indicate lower than average air pressures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

The average rate of ice loss from September 1 through September 17 was 25,000 square kilometers per day (10,000 square miles per day), similar to average rate of loss for the first half of September over the period 1981 to 2010. Sea ice retreat primarily occurred in the northern Chukchi, East Siberian, and Laptev Seas. The ice edge retreated slightly in the Kara and Barents Seas. Air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) were near average over much of the Arctic Ocean, the obvious exception being in the East Siberian Sea, where temperatures were as much as 7 to 9 degrees Celsius (13 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. These high temperatures helped to reduce the sea ice extent in this region. The sea level pressure pattern for this same period is dominated by an area of low pressure extending from central Siberia, across the pole, and into the Canadian Arctic, and is most pronounced north of the Laptev Sea. The feature north of the Laptev Sea, in conjunction with the area of high pressure centered over the Bering Sea, has acted to transport warm air from the south over the East Siberian Sea, helping to explain the high temperatures there.

Satellite altimetry data from Sentinel-3A measured the Significant Wave Heights during the passage of these storms (see Figure 1 below):

• more than 5 m at 10-25 km off the North and South Carolina coasts on 13 and 14 September (respectively for the ground tracks 678 and 691) while the hurricane Florence crossed this area. A peak at almost 7m was measured on 13 Sept. at ~70 km off the coasts.
• more than 10 m at only 16 km off the Hong-Kong coasts was measured on 15-16 September (respectively for the ground tracks 733 and 748).

The SAR on the Sentinel-1B satellite provided wind fields while the super typhoon Mangkhut was heading towards southeast Asia with a maximum wind speed reaching 288 km/h on 11 September (see Figure 2 at the bottom). The upcoming launch of the Chinese-French CFOSAT satellite scheduled on 2018/10/29 will allow accurate ocean forecasts during such extreme events by collecting data both on wind speed and wave height.

Fig. 1 : Significant Wave Heights (H1/3, in meters) measured along-track by Sentinel-3A during hurricane Florence (left) and typhoon Mangkhut (right), during the passage of the storms, on September 2018.

The maps plots all the tracks between 10-14 Sept. for Florence and 15-17 Sept. for Mangkhut. The plots at the bottom only show the SWH nearest the passage of the storms off the coasts (x-axis indicates the distance to the coast in km for each track).

Credits EU Copernicus Marine Service for the data, produced by AVISO+.

Fig.2: Ocean surface wind speed map measured by Sentinel-1B on 2018/0911 while the typhoon Magkhut was in Category 5. Maximum wind speed reached more than 80m/s (288km/h). The ocean fields are given by the Sentinel-1 SAR on its Extended Wide Swath mode. The swath about 400 km-width are visible on the map. Credits Sentinel-1B: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2018 processed by IFREMER/CLS. 

Further information

• CFOSAT
  • page Missions
  • video presentation of the CFOSAT project (posted by CNES)
• on Copernicus Marine Service website: Looking at hurricane Florence through wave height with model data.
• Data access:
  • Significant wave heigths from Sentinel-3A, European Copernicus Marine Service

CFOSAT, China France Oceanography SATellite, operated by CNES and CNSA, is devoted to ocean surface wind and wave observation. The CFOSAT Joint System Review & PSR will take place from the 15th to the 18th of September, after which the launch campaign will start until the launch on October 29th.   To learn more about the mission and the instruments:

• Missions: CFOSAT
• CFOSAT on the Cnes space scientific missions web site
• Multimedia: Seven posters to know more about the mission and the French (Swim for measuring waves) and Chinese (Scat for measuring global sea level surface wind) instruments

China launches satellite to monitor world’s oceans (Spaceflight now, 09/09/2018) Increasing odds that Tropical Storm Florence will threaten East Coast (Axios, 07/09/2018) Climate change could affect human evolution. Here's how. (NBC news, 07/09/2018) Scientists find the reason why part of West Antarctic ice is thickening (Knowridge, 07/09/2018) World's biggest sovereign fund in Norway urges companies to help save oceans (First Post, 06/09/2018) Melting glaciers increasing risk of landslide-triggered tsunamis, study reveals (The independent, 06/09/2018) Massive Ocean Waves May Play a Role in Nuisance Flooding (EOS, 04/09/2018) Y a-t-il vraiment 5 continents de plastique dans les océans ? (Libération, 07/09/2018) On line availability of articles depends on the Newspaper/magazine. We can't thus certify that above articles will be freely and permanently available.

We are pleased to announce you the publication of the fifteenth  Aviso+ Users Newsletter :  CONTENTS: 

• Project News: Ongoing and forthcoming missions, ongoing developments
• Aviso+ User Satisfaction Survey 2018 : What are you telling us ?
• Toward a new generation of DUACS products with finer resolution
• Events

Find all the past newsletters here.

Please, be informed that the cycle 24 of the NTC Sentinel-3A L2P products covering the period between 16/11 to 23/11/2017 has been redelivered.
Indeed, following the installation of the new software version, the values of the SLA bias were not correct.
The files from version 02_00 named global_sla_l2p_ntc_s3a_C0024_P*_201711*_20180823*.nc.gz have been redelivered with the corrected variables 'inter_mission_bias' and 'sea_level_anomaly' We apologize for the inconvenience.

With the waning of Arctic summer, the seasonal decrease in sea ice extent has slowed. At this time of the year, the extent is the highest it has been since 2014. Nevertheless, sea ice extent remains well below the interdecile range (lowest 10 percent for ice extent years). The minimum is expected to be one of the ten lowest in the satellite record.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for August 2018 was 5.61 million square kilometers (2.17 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice extent for August 2018 averaged 5.61 million square kilometers (2.17 million square miles). This was 1.59 million square kilometers (614,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average sea ice extent, and 890,000 square kilometers (344,000 square miles) above the record low for the month set in August 2012. August 2018 was the seventh lowest August extent in the satellite record, but the highest August extent since 2014.

At the end of the month, sea ice extent stood at 4.97 million square kilometers (1.92 million square miles). Sea ice extent remained low along the coastal seas of the Arctic Ocean with the exception of the East Siberian Sea. The Northern Sea Route nevertheless appears to be navigable. Low sea ice concentrations persist in the northern Beaufort and Laptev Seas; these areas may still retreat further north before the melt season ends. The Northwest Passage is still choked with ice and is likely to remain so.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of September, 4, 2018, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and 2012, the year with record low minimum extent. 2018 is shown in blue, 2017 in green, 2016 in orange, 2015 in brown, 2014 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for August 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperature; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperature.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic, in millibars, for August 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average sea level pressure; blues and purples indicate lower than average sea level pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

The average ice loss rate for August was 57,500 square kilometers (22,200 square miles) per day. This was slightly faster than the 1981 to 2010 average, but substantially slower than August loss rates in recent years, particularly 2008, 2012, 2015, and 2016.

Air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above sea level) were up to 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over much of the Arctic Ocean and the Laptev Sea, but up to 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) below average over the Canadian Archipelago (Figure 2b). Higher temperatures over the ocean were related to high sea level pressure east of the Laptev Sea and low pressure over the Barents and Kara Seas, funneling in warm air from Eurasia (Figure 2c).

August 2018 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly August ice extent for 1979 to 2018 shows a decline of 10.4 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

The linear rate of decline for August sea ice extent is 75,000 square kilometers (29,000 square miles) per year, or 10.4 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. Ice loss during the month was 1.78 million square kilometers (687,000 square miles), which is nearly the same as the 1981 to 2010 average August decrease.

Sea ice off the Alaskan coast

Figure 4. This map of the Arctic Ocean shows sea surface temperatures (SST) from the University of Washington Polar Science Center UpTempO project. The image shows SSTs from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and sea ice concentrations from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The numbered circles denote the location of UpTempO buoys, which are measuring the temperature in the near-surface ocean layer. Data from the buoys is available from the UpTempO website.

Credit: University of Washington
High-resolution image

Ice that has persisted along the Alaskan coast is starting to rapidly disintegrate. However, some remnants consist of thick floes. Sea surface temperatures obtained from the University of Washington’s UpTempO website indicate that waters in the area are near the freezing point. As such, some ice in this region may survive the melt season. These temperatures are consistent with those collected during the cruise of the South Korean icebreaker Aaron (see From the field, a wrap up below). Sea surface temperatures ranged between -1 and +1 degrees Celsius (30 and 34 degrees Fahrenheit) when the ship was traveling through the ice, and more than 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) within the open waters of the Chukchi and Bering Seas.

Opening north of Greenland, closed Northwest Passage

Figure 5a. This map shows sea ice conditions in the western part of the Canadian Archipelago. The colors in the color bar correspond to sea ice concentration in tenths. Dark blue is low concentration (less than 10 percent), white is high concentration (100 percent).

Credit: Canadian Ice Service
High-resolution image

Figure 5b. This chart shows total sea ice area for selected years and the 1981 to 2010 average within the northern route of the Northwest Passage. The dotted red line shows 2018 and the other colors show ice conditions in different years.

Credit: Canadian Ice Service
High-resolution image

As noted in our previous post, an unusual area of open water formed off the northern coast of Greenland. It reached a maximum size of about 23,000 square kilometers (about 8,900 square miles) in mid-August—about the size of the state of New Jersey or the country of Wales. The opening has closed somewhat since then, but an ice-free region remains east of Cape Morris Jesup.

In contrast to northern Greenland, substantial amounts of ice remain in the channels of the Canadian Archipelago, thus the Northwest Passage is not open (Figure 5a). As of the end of August, sea ice area in the northern route of the Northwest Passage is currently tracking just above the 1981 to 2010 average (Figure 5b). The region is far from being free of sea ice; high ice concentrations are still present, about half of which is multiyear ice. Below average air temperature over the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago has limited ice melt. Low sea level pressures over the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Basin have packed ice against the western entrance of the Northwest Passage. The southern route of the Northwest Passage also contains relatively high ice concentrations, although mainly first-year ice. In the unlikely event that the southern route does open in the coming weeks it will be short-lived since multi-year ice from the northern regions would quickly move southward to fill the open water gaps.

From the field, a wrap up

Figure 6a. These graphs show the evolution of snow depth, in meters, from August 20 to August 30, 2018 as recorded by two MetOcean snow buoys, which NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve deployed.

Credit: J. Stroeve, NSIDC
High-resolution image

Figure 6b. This photograph shows the MetOcean Snow Buoy set up on sea ice in the Chukchi Sea.

Credit: J. Stroeve, NSIDC
High-resolution image

Figure 6c. NSIDC scientist Alia Khan collects snow samples for black carbon analysis, and measures snow grain size, snow depth, and spectral albedo.

Credit: A. Khan, NSIDC
High-resolution image

NSIDC scientists Julienne Stroeve and Alia Khan have returned from their Arctic expedition on the South Korean icebreaker Aaron. Both successfully deployed their instruments and collected scientific measurements. Now the work of data analysis begins. Since the buoy deployment by Stroeve and others, two of the melt pond buoy systems have already shown 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) of ice melt. Both snow buoys deployed by Stroeve (Figure 6b) are sending back good data (Figure 6a), with a mean snow depth for the last ten days in August of around 9.5±3.3 centimeters (3.74±1.3 inches for buoy #1 and 8.6±1.8 centimeters (3.4±0.7 inches) for buoy #2. While snow depth at the second buoy remained relatively constant, buoy #1 shows the effect of a snowfall event that likely occurred on August 30. Both buoys have drifted considerably eastwards since deployment, with buoy #1 drifting 104 kilometers (65 miles) in ten days (from 79.0 degrees N, longitude 164.5 degrees W to 79.0 degrees N, longitude 159.6 degrees W), and buoy #2 drifting 132 kilometers (82 miles) in nine days (from 78.4 degrees N, longitude 167.9 degrees W to 78.5 degrees N, longitude 162.0 degrees W).

Khan collected snow and ice samples (Figure 6c) for the analysis of black carbon (BC), which comes from the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. When the dark particles are deposited on snow and ice surfaces, they absorb more solar radiation than the surrounding surface, reducing the albedo and enhancing melt. Over the course of the five-day ice camp, her team collected 133 snow samples. The team is interested in exploring local BC signals from shipping traffic, transport and deposition from regional Arctic wildfires, and background concentrations of long-range atmospheric transport of BC. They will compare BC concentrations in snow and sea ice with spectral albedo measurements, as well as results from a global aerosol atmospheric transport model to look at potential source regions of the aerosols.

Antarctic Report

Figure 7. This graph shows daily Antarctic sea ice extent for the austral winter season from the past seven years, 2012 to 2018. 2012 is shown in red, 2013 in a dashed green line, 2014 in solid green, 2015 in yellow, 2016 in magenta, 2017 in purple, and 2018 in orange. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data.

Credit: NSIDC
High-resolution image

Antarctic sea ice has increased at a faster-than-average pace in the later part of August. The sea ice maximum is typically reached in late September. Overall sea ice extent is still in the bottom quartile (the lowest 25 percent of years) of the satellite record (Figure 7). Ice extent is below the median of the past 40 years in several regions, including the northern Weddell, far northeastern Weddell, and southern Indian Ocean.

The past seven austral winter seasons for Antarctic sea ice extent have been remarkably variable. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, Antarctic sea ice extent set consecutive satellite-era record highs for the annual maximum. However, 2015 had a near-average seasonally maximum ice extent, while 2016 saw ice extent plunge in late August to reach unprecedented low levels by austral spring in November. Since 2016, ice has remained below the 1981 to 2010 average extent, setting the second-lowest winter maximum extent in October 2017.

The Most Powerful Storm of 2018 Is Headed Toward Japan (Earther, 31/08/2018) How a Battle to Build the Best Weather Model Impacts Everyone on Earth (Earther, 30/08/2018) Future impacts of El Niño, La Niña likely to intensify, increasing wildfire, drought risk (National Science Foundation, 28/08/2018) Arctic’s strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record (The Guardian, 21/08/2018) Why sea level rise varies from place to place (Science News, 15/08/2018) Humans are pushing the Earth closer to a climate cliff (The Guardian, 15/08/2018) Jakarta is slowing sinking into the Earth (World Economic Forum, 15/08/2018) Jakarta, the fastest-sinking city in the world (BBC, 13/08/2018) From greenhouse to hothouse: the language of climate change (The Guardian, 09/08/2018) Pollution is slowing the melting of Arctic sea ice, for now (The Guardian, 03/08/2018) Le Libé des Océans (Libération, 31/08/2018) The Ocean Cleanup va déployer son premier barrage anti-déchets dans l’océan Pacifique-Nord ! (Science Post, 31/08/2018) La couche de glace la plus solide et la plus ancienne de l’arctique se fracture (Science Post, 26/08/2018) Mystère du triangle des Bermudes : l'hypothèse des vagues scélérates (Futura Science, 18/08/2018) Canicules : ça chauffe aussi très fort pour les océans (Le Nouvel Obs, 16/08/2018) On line availability of articles depends on the Newspaper/magazine. We can't thus certify that above articles will be freely and permanently available.

an international meeting on globe’s water issues

After declining rapidly through July, sea ice extent decline slowed during the first two weeks of August. A new record September minimum is highly unlikely. Our 2018 projection for the sea ice minimum extent falls between the fourth and ninth lowest in the 39-year satellite record. Two NSIDC scientists are studying ice and ocean conditions in the western Arctic aboard an icebreaker.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for August 15, 2018 was 5.7 million square kilometers (2.2 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

As of August 15, Arctic sea ice extent was 5.7 million square kilometers (2.2 million square miles). This is 1.58 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average, but 868,000 square kilometers (335,000 square miles) above the record low at this time of year recorded in 2012. Ice retreated recently in the Kara, Laptev, and Beaufort Seas. The ice edge was relatively unchanged near Greenland and Svalbard, and in the East Siberian Sea. Much of the Northwest Passage through Canada remains choked with ice. The Northern Sea Route appears open, according to the Multisensor Analyzed Sea Ice Extent (MASIE) analysis, though ice is lingering near the coast in the East Siberian Sea. Scattered ice floes are likely present along the route. A large patch of sea ice, separated from the main pack, persists in the southern Beaufort Sea. Such patterns of ragged patchiness or large polynyas have been a more frequent feature of Arctic summers since 2006.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of August 15, 2018, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2018 is shown in blue, 2017 in green, 2016 in orange, 2015 in brown, 2014 in purple, and 2012 in dotted red. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic, in millibars, for August 1 to 14, 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average sea level pressure; blues and purples indicate lower than average sea level pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for August 1 to 14, 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperature; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperature.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2d. This shows a true color composite image of Cape Morris Jesup off of northern Greenland, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite on August 13, 2018.

Credit: W. Meier, NSIDC/NASA
High-resolution image

Through the first two weeks of August, ice extent declined at approximately 65,000 square kilometers (25,100 square miles) per day, slightly faster than the 1981 to 2010 average of 57,000 square kilometers (22,000 square miles) per day. Sea level pressure was above average over the central Arctic Ocean, a change from last month, flanked by areas of below-average pressure in the Kara Sea and northern Canada (Figure 2b). Temperatures at 925 hPa (about 2,500 feet altitude) were generally 1 to 5 degrees Celsius (2 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over much of the Arctic Ocean for this period, with the area just north of Greenland reaching 5 to 7 degrees Celsius (9 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) above average (Figure 2c). Below average air temperatures persisted over the Kara Sea, 1 to 3 degrees Celsius (2 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit), and the Beaufort Sea, 1 to 5 degrees Celsius (2 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit). Another feature of note is the region of open water (Figure 2d) along the north coast of Greenland, around Cape Morris Jesup, which is visible on August 13 in Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra true color imagery from NASA WorldView. The region normally consists of thick, consolidated ice from a general pattern of on-shore ice motion. Even when winds blow offshore, the strength of the thick ice would hold in place along the coast. However, current ice conditions appear more broken up and likely thinner, and over the past couple of weeks, offshore winds have succeeded in pushing ice off of the coast.

Estimating the September minimum extent

Figure 3. This graph shows potential sea ice minimum extents for 2018 based on ice loss rates from previous years. 2018, through August 15, is shown in blue. Projections based on 2008 rates are shown in purple dots, and 2006 rates are shown in blue dots.

Credit: W. Meier, NSIDC
High-resolution image

A simple way to project the upcoming annual minimum extent involves using the daily rates of change from previous years and applying them to the current sea ice extent. Following the 2005 to 2017 average rate of change between August 15 and the minimum, the extent is projected to drop to an annual low of 4.55 million square kilometers (1.76 million square miles), with a standard deviation range of 4.32 to 4.78 million square kilometers (1.67 to 1.85 million square miles). If sea ice extent continues at the rate of ice loss seen in 2008, the fastest recorded, the minimum at the end of summer would be 4.20 million square kilometers (1.62 million square miles), or the fourth lowest minimum in the satellite record. If sea ice extent continues with the rate for ice loss from 2006, the slowest recorded, the minimum would be 4.90 million square kilometers (1.89 million square miles), or the ninth lowest in the satellite record. It is possible that the rate of change through the remaining summer will be unprecedented in the satellite record (either faster or slower), yielding a final minimum extent outside of this range, but our estimates provide a window of the most likely minimum extent this year. Another possibility is that winds will consolidate the ice and reduce the overall extent. This was a factor contributing to the record low recorded in 2012.

Sea ice up close and personal

Figure 4a. This photograph, off the starboard side of the RV Araon on August 9, 2018 (21:00 UTC) at 76 degrees N and 179 degrees W, shows dirty ice amidst bright white ice.

Credit: J. Stroeve, NSIDC
High-resolution image

Figure 4b. The team’s first sighting of a polar bear.

Credit: A. Khan, NSIDC
High-resolution image

Two NSIDC scientists are currently aboard the Korean icebreaker Araon as it travels through the Chukchi Sea. NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve wants to better understand how changes in the sea ice regime (e.g. ice thickness, snow depth, date of melt onset) influence the availability of sunlight under the ice, which plays a key role in phytoplankton blooms and grazing habits of zooplankton. Another objective is to quantify how layering of salty and fresh water in melt ponds evolves over time. To meet these objectives, the researchers will deploy several instrumented to measure seasonal snow accumulation, salinity, and temperature within selected salty and fresh melt ponds. A bio-optical buoy will measure the light and oxygen below the ice, and other buoys will measure the ice growth and melting on different types of ice floes.

As the icebreaker travels through the Arctic Ocean, NSIDC scientist Alia Khan is measuring the amount of sunlight that reaches the ice surface to assess the accuracy of incoming solar energy from weather models. Additionally, she is collecting atmospheric aerosol particles, such as smoke and dust, to measure their size distribution. On the ice, she will collect spectral reflectance measurements (reflectance of the surface in different solar energy wavelengths) of different ice types, such as thin first-year versus thick multiyear ice, snow-covered versus bare ice, and melt ponds. Lastly, she will collect snow and ice samples for analysis of black carbon and algal biomass. Black carbon comes from the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. When the dark particles are deposited on snow and ice surfaces, the darker surface absorbs more solar radiation than the surrounding, lighter surface, reducing reflectance of solar energy and enhancing melt. The pigment of ice algae has a similar impact. Collecting these data will help scientists better understand the effects of ship traffic and long-range atmospheric transport that deposit black carbon on the sea ice.

The team left Nome, Alaska, on August 4, and is currently traveling eastwards between 74 and 75 degrees N and 167 degrees W. Before reaching the ice camp where the instruments will be deployed, the ship is retrieving and installing moorings. Ice conditions have been varied since the first sightings of sea ice occurred at 72 degrees 58 minutes N/168 degrees 18.2 minutes W. The first ice sighted mostly consisted of small multiyear ice remnants about 1 meter thick (3.3 feet) and less than 20 meters (66 feet) in size. Now the majority of the ice floes are thin, first-year ice floes between 50 to 200 meters (164 to 656 feet) in size, and 50 to 100 centimeters (1.6 to 3.3 feet) thick. While most of the ice is level ice, some large ridging has been observed. Almost all the ice floes have melt ponds, some discrete and some linked, especially on the thinner first-year ice. Most melt ponds have thaw holes. So far, the majority of melt ponds have a thin top ice layer as air temperatures are hovering around -3 degrees Celsius (27 degrees Fahrenheit). However, once the ship reached 179 degrees W, air temperatures approached 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and the melt ponds thawed. The most interesting feature thus far has been dirty ice in the midst of bright white ice (see Figure 4a). It is unclear if these dirty ice floes are a result of ice algae, dust, or soot deposits from this summer’s forest fires. The team has also been rewarded with sightings of polar bears (see Figure 4b).

Erratum

Readers alerted us to an error. On August 16, we reported the August 15 sea ice extent as 7.3 million square kilometers (2.82 million square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. Instead, it is 1.58 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. On August 17, 2018, we corrected the number.

2017, nouvelle année rouge pour le climat (Les Echos 02/08/2018) Climat : 2017, année de tous les records (Le Monde 01/08/2018) Les océans toujours aussi chauds, leur niveau toujours plus haut (BFM 02/08/2018) Seuls 13% des océans sont encore sauvages (Le Temps 26/07/2018) Environ 90% des manchots de cette colonie ont disparu, et personne ne sait pourquoi (sciencepost 31/07/2018) Un affaiblissement de la circulation océanique en Atlantique ne ralentirait pas le réchauffement climatique, mais conduirait à son amplification ! (sciencepost 28/07/2018) En plus de polluer les océans, le plastique contribue au réchauffement climatiquer ( Agence France-Presse, 02/08/2018) On line availability of articles depends on the Newspaper/magazine. We can't thus certify that above articles will be freely and permanently available.

Arctic sea ice extent declined rapidly the latter half of July, despite the persistence of low sea level pressure over the Arctic Ocean and generally cool conditions. At the same time, unusually high sea level pressure persisted over the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, where several new record high temperatures were reached, fostering extensive wildfires.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for July 2018 was 8.22 million square kilometers (3.20 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
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Arctic sea ice extent for July 2018 averaged 8.22 million square kilometers (3.20 million square miles). This was 1.25 million square kilometers (483,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average sea ice extent, and 550,000 square kilometers (212,000 square miles) above the record low for the month set in July 2012. July 2018 was the ninth lowest July extent in the satellite record.

Despite finishing ninth lowest in the monthly average, ice loss was rapid during the month. As a result, by July 31 daily extent tracked fourth lowest in the satellite record, just below the extent seen last year at this time, and also just above that seen in 2007, 2011, and 2012. Extent remained unusually low in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic, including the Barents, Kara, Laptev, and East Greenland Seas, whereas the ice edge in the Beaufort and East Siberian Seas remained near average. By the end of July, the ice within Hudson Bay had all melted out and the ice edge in the Chukchi Sea had also retreated far north of its average position for this time of year. This pattern is in stark contrast to last year when by July’s end, the ice edge was located far north of its usual position in the Beaufort and East Siberian Seas while with ice on the Atlantic side, extent was near average.

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 31, 2018, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2018 is shown in blue, 2017 in green, 2016 in orange, 2015 in brown, 2014 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
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Total ice loss during July was 3.27 million square kilometers (1.26 million square miles), or a rate of -105,400 square kilometers (-41,000 square miles) per day. This was faster than the 1981 to 2010 long-term average rate of retreat for the month of -86,800 square kilometers (-34,000 square miles) per day. Ice retreat occurred primarily within Hudson Bay and the Kara, Laptev, and Chukchi Seas, and to a lesser extent within Baffin Bay, the East Greenland Sea and the East Siberian coastal regions. In contrast, ice expanded slightly in parts of the Beaufort Sea. While there was little overall change in ice extent in the Beaufort Sea, ice concentration remained low over much of the region, with large areas of open water developing between ice floes. Open water areas between floes readily absorb the sun’s energy and help to enhance lateral (from the side) and basal (from the bottom) melting. However, by the end of July the sun is lower in the sky as compared to June, so this effect is diminishing.

Continuing the pattern of the last two summers, low sea level pressure persisted over the central Arctic Ocean during July, a pattern that historically has tended to slow summer ice loss. Low sea level pressure also persisted over Greenland, paired with high sea level pressure over northern Europe and Siberia to the east, and high sea level pressure over Alaska and Canada to the west. This led to air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (approximately 2,500 feet above the surface) ranging from -0.5 to -4.0 degrees Celsius (-0.9 to -7.0 degrees Fahrenheit) below average over the Kara and Laptev, and from -0.5 to -2.0 degrees Celsius (-0.9 to -4.0 degrees Fahrenheit) over the Beaufort Sea. Near the pole, air temperatures were near average or slightly above average (+0.5 to +1.0 degrees Celsius or +0.9 to +2.0 degrees Fahrenheit). Air temperatures -0.5 to -3 degrees Celsius (-0.9 to +5.0 degrees Fahrenheit) below average also persisted over central and northern Greenland.

Meanwhile, over in Scandinavia several new record high temperatures were observed during the month. In Turku, Finland, temperatures soared to 33.3 degrees Celsius (91.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 17, the highest temperature recorded since 1914. In central Norway, the Trondheim airport reported a temperature of 32.4 degrees Celsius (90.3 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 16, the highest on record, while Bardufoss, just south of Tromsø within the Arctic circle, saw a new record of 33.5 degrees Celsius (92.3 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 18. In Sweden, more than forty forest fires raged across the country during the unprecedented heatwave in mid-July. Fires were also burning within Lapland and Latvia. However, it was not only Scandinavia experiencing hot and dry conditions. Western Europe continued to experience prolonged heatwaves. Wildfires in Greece have already killed nearly ninety people, while Japan declared their extreme heatwave as a natural disaster, as more than sixty-five people have died and 22,000 have been treated in hospitals.

July 2018 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly July ice extent for 1979 to 2018 shows a decline of 7.2 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
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The linear rate of decline for July sea ice extent is 68,700 square kilometers per year (27,000 square miles per year) or 7.2 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Beaufort on the brink?

Figure 4a. This shows a true color composite image of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite.

Credit: W. Meier, NSIDC/NASA
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Figure 4b. This image shows sea ice concentration in the Arctic, based on data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2).

Credit: University of Bremen
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Ice concentration over much of the Beaufort Sea has rapidly declined over the past couple of weeks. July 27 imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite showed a large off-shore region with broken-up ice and small ice floes vulnerable to rapid melt by the surrounding ocean (Figure 4a). Sea ice concentration data provided by the University of Bremen from the higher resolution Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Advance Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) showed an expanding open water area within the ice pack between mid-July and August 1 (Figure 4b). By August 1, substantial open water was found throughout the Beaufort. On the other hand, near the coast to the east of Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), more compact and likely thicker ice remains, which is less likely to rapidly melt away. How much of the Beaufort ice cover survives the summer and how much more melts away will depend considerably on the weather conditions over the next four to six weeks.

Melt onset a mixed bag

Figure 5. These maps show preliminary melt onset (left) and melt onset difference from average (right) in the Arctic relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. White areas are open ocean or areas with no melt detected.

Data courtesy Jeffrey Miller, NASA GSFC.
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This summer the ice retreated quite early in the Bering Sea in late April and early May, leading to record low extent in the region. This is partly because the melt started nearly two months earlier than average in certain parts of the Bering Sea, while the regional average melt onset date was 38 days earlier. Melt also began several weeks earlier than average in the Barents Sea, stretching up through the Kara Sea and the southern Laptev Sea. In contrast, melt was later than average in most of the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas as well as parts of the Beaufort Sea. While melt onset generally happens earlier in the southern parts of the Arctic and later as one moves further north, exceptions do occur. For example, already in March some melt onset was detected over the central Arctic Ocean, but it did not continuously melt since that date.

Reconstructing sea ice extent in the Kara and Barents Seas

Figure 6. This graph shows reconstructions of sea ice extent in the Kara and Barents Seas from 1289 to 1993 (red line). The gray line shows the 30-year average, the blue line shows observed sea ice extent, and the green line shows the trend.

Credit: Qi Zhang (Institute of Polar Meteorology, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Bejing, China) and Cunde Xiao (Stake Key Laboratory of Earth Surface and Resources Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Bejing, China)
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While we now have forty years of consistent sea ice observations from satellite, this data record is still relatively short, especially for trying to better understand drivers of current sea ice loss and issues such as potential impacts on mid-latitude weather. A new study from a team of Chinese researchers relied on climate proxies from ice cores and tree ring data from coastal forests to provide estimates of autumn sea ice within the Kara and Barents Seas back to 1289. This new data record suggests that between the 13th and 18th centuries, sea ice extent in the Kara and Barents Seas was more extensive than today and was increasing slightly. This period coincides with the Little Ice Age. After the end of the 18th century, sea ice in this region began to decline and the downward trend became significant during the second half of the 19th century until about the 1930s to 1940s. The sea ice then expanded until the 1970s, after which it has continually declined. Based on this reconstruction, current ice loss in the Kara and Barents Seas is viewed as unprecedented, both in duration and rate of change. While the study is only regional and does not indicate overall Arctic-wide sea ice changes, it provides useful context for the recent decline relative to the long-term variability.

Antarctic sea ice update

Sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere grew at a slightly faster-than-average pace from June through mid-July, but then slowed through the second half of July. At mid-July, ice extent was near average in all sectors except the region north of Dronning Maud Land. In the last two weeks of July, an area of below-average ice extent developed north of Wilkes Land in response to warm winds from the northeast, reducing the overall ice growth and bringing the Southern Hemisphere ice extent down relative to the 1981 to 2010 average (below the range of 90 percent of the past observational years). Above average temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above sea level) of 4 to 5 degrees Celsius (7 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) occurred over the northern West Antarctic coast and the southern Peninsula, where the Peninsula high pressure ridge brought winds from the north. Temperatures 3 to 6 degrees Celsius (5 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit) above average also occurred along the Wilkes Land coast.

References

Divine, D. V. and C. Dick. 2007. March through August ice edge positions in the Nordic Seas, 1750-2002, Version 1. Boulder, Colorado USA. NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center. doi: https://doi.org/10.7265/N59884X1.

Zhang, Q., C. Xiao, M. Ding, and T. Dou. 2018. Reconstruction of autumn sea ice extent changes since AD1289 in the Barents-Kara Sea, Arctic. Science China Earth Sciences, doi:10.1007.s11430-017-9196.4.

Altimetry showns an increased steepness of waves interacting with currents accelerating abruptly....

ODATIS, Ocean Data Information and Services, serves as the entry point to access all French Ocean observation data. Its general objective is to promote and facilitate the use of ocean observations sampled by way of in situ and remote sensing measurements. ODATIS contributes to describing, quantifying and understanding the ocean as a whole — offshore and coastal — with regard to aspects such as the dynamics and thermodynamics of the ocean, the evolution of its physico-chemical properties, biogeochemical cycles, the operation of marine ecosystems, the evolution of the ocean and the ocean-climate relationship in the past. See the video presentation on the ODATIS website (in french)

Sea ice declined at a near average rate through the first half of July as low sea level pressure dominated the Arctic Ocean. Wind patterns caused smoke from Siberian forest fires to sweep over the ice.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for July 15, 2018 was 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

As of July 15, Arctic sea ice extent was 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million square miles). This is 1.24 million square kilometers (479,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average, but 670,000 square kilometers (259,000 square miles) above the record low for this day in 2011. While total Arctic sea ice extent was tracking at record low levels during winter, the rate of summer ice loss has been unremarkable thus far. Thus far in July, ice retreat has been most pronounced in the Kara Sea, whereas in the Beaufort Sea, the ice edge expanded slightly southwards. The ice edge has changed little within the Barents and East Greenland Seas on the Atlantic side, and retreat has been sluggish in the Chukchi Sea on the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 15, 2018, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2018 is shown in blue, 2017 in green, 2016 in orange, 2015 in brown, 2014 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic, in millibars, for July 1 to 15, 2018. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average sea level pressure; blues and purples indicate lower than average sea level pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
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Through the first two weeks of July, ice extent declined at a rate of 134,000 square kilometers (52,000 square miles) per day, which is near the 1981 to 2010 average. The spatial pattern of ice loss has not changed much since the end of June, with minimal ice loss around the entire ice edge. The Beaufort Sea saw some increase in extent due to the transport of ice from the north. Low sea level pressure dominated the central Arctic Ocean and Greenland. Typically, this pattern, associated with counterclockwise (cyclonic) winds is associated with cool conditions and also causes ice divergence, helping to spread the ice cover over a larger area. However, air temperatures over the pole and the East Siberian and Chukchi Seas at the 925 hPa level (approximately 2,500 feet above the surface) ranged 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit) above average for the first part of July. Regions with below average air temperatures were found in the Kara, Laptev, and Beaufort Seas (-1 to -3 degrees Celsius or -2 to -5 degrees Fahrenheit below average).

The passive microwave data show a decrease in ice concentration in several areas of the Arctic Ocean, particularly in northern areas of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. This is not necessarily a real decrease—it manifests as surface melt and the development of melt ponds on the ice surface. Microwave emission is sensitive to the freeze-thaw state of water. Liquid water atop the ice surface changes the returned signal, mimicking a reduced sea ice concentration. Because the calculation of ice extent does not consider concentration (except for the 15 percent concentration threshold), extent values are much less sensitive to this melt effect. During the melt season, ice extent provides a more consistent and reliable measure of total ice cover.

Siberian smoke over the Arctic Ocean

Figure 3. These images from the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor show the Arctic Ocean and surrounding land from July 3 to 6, 2018. Blue arrows indicate smoke that had drifted from fires in Siberia.

Credit: NASA
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Fires in the western United States have been much in the news lately. Less noted are significant fires in Siberia. Over several days at the beginning of July, smoke from these fires was brought into the Arctic Ocean by winds associated with the pattern of low pressure in the region. The smoke streamed over the East Siberian, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas and eventually across Alaska into northern Canada.

The smoke has two potential effects on sea ice. First, as it drifts over the ice, the smoke particles scatter solar radiation and reduce how much is received at the surface. This has a cooling effect that will tend to reduce the rate of ice loss. However, smoke particles that settle onto the ice will darken the surface, thus decreasing the reflectivity of the surface, or albedo. This increases the amount of solar energy absorbed by the ice and enhances melt. The atmospheric scattering effect of the smoke is short term and dissipates after the smoke drifts away. The surface albedo effect has a longer-term impact and could serve to enhance melt rates through the summer. The magnitude of the effect will depend on how many smoke particles are deposited on the surface, the albedo of the surface that the particles fall on, and the amount of cloud cover which reduces the incoming sunlight. The biggest effect would be on bright, snow-covered ice. It would be smaller on darker melting ice and melt ponds, and there would be no effect in open water areas.