A Multi-Scale Analysis of Seasonal Sea Ice Change

The sea ice in the polar regions has been continuously measured through passive microwave satellite sensors since 1978. This project uses this data record to understand the seasonal changes of sea ice in the Arctic. Sea ice concentrations (SIC) were derived from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Sounder (SSM/I-SSMIS) series using the Bootstrap SIC algorithm. To determine shifts in the Arctic sea ice seasonal cycle, multiple metrics are used including the dates of advance (DOA) and retreat (DOR), the inner ice free period (IIFP), and the maximum sea ice extent (SIE) and its date. Three marginal seas of the Arctic were analyzed, including the Kara, Barents, and East Greenland Seas. The Kara Sea shows a significant increasing trend in the IIFP throughout the region, as well as max SIE dates that are trending later in the year. The Barents Sea has a significant decreasing trend in the max SIE throughout the time-series. For the East Greenland Sea, there is a significant increasing trend in the IIFP and a decrease in the max SIE. Although these Seas are adjacent to each other, they show dramatically different trends in the analyzed metrics. These results highlight how continued monitoring of the SIC record is not only important for understanding how the sea ice is currently changing, but how it will change in the future.