Current Arctic Sea Ice Extent
The image / animation below depicts recent Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent and concentration as estimated from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) on board a U.S. Defence Meteorological Satellite. Sea ice concentrations are estimated from the 19.3 and 37 GHz channels of the sensor using the Canadian sea ice algorithm. This image is updated weekly.
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Press 'PLAY' to view an animation of the sea ice concentration over the past three months. Press ++ to increase the animation speed or -- to decrease it. Press 'STOP' to pause the animation and << or >> to jump forward or backward through the individual frames. Pressing "RESET" will re-load the most recent image again. You must have a javascript-enabled browser for the animation to work.
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Current Sea Ice Synopsis
Update March 2010:
Ice conditions of the Canadian east coast
Tom Agnew, Stephen Howell, and Lionel Hache of Environment Canada note that average ice conditions off the east coast of Canada were at record lows during the first three weeks of February 2010. Sea ice charts prepared by the Canadian Ice Service show that ice coverage in the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence was the lowest for that time period since analysts started charting the region in 1969. Mild temperatures and predominately northeasterly winds have prevented both the advance of ice down the Labrador coast and the formation of ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These ice conditions are also linked to the strong negative Arctic Oscillation pattern.
Posted: June 17, 2009
Sea ice extent over the winter has been tracking above the winter ice extent of the last few years. However more recently it has dipped to values close to the last few years. As of June 15, 2009, Environment Canada analysis indicates that sea ice over the Northern Hemisphere is approximately 11.5 million sq. km. which is close to the value in 2007 for this time of year (click to see comparison with the last four years).
Regional Ice Chart Products
These products show the differences of concentration between the current regional ice chart and the Median of Ice Concentration for the period 1971-2000 as shown in our climatic ice atlases. Departure from Normal Concentration
Sea Ice Extent Anomaly Maps
Press 'PLAY' to view an animation of the sea ice anomolies over the past 4 months. Press ++ to increase the animation speed or -- to decrease it. Press 'STOP' to pause the animation and << or >> to jump forward or backward through the individual frames. Pressing "RESET" will re-load the most recent image again. You must have a javascript-enabled browser for the animation to work.
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