Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Sea Ice Ebbs and Flows
720 x 342 JPEG
Published April 21, 2009
These satellite-based maps show sea ice concentration in the Arctic and Antarctic during September 2008 and February 2009, the months of the sea ice maximums and minimums in the respective hemispheres.
Related images:
Sea Ice Extent as the Equinox Approaches
720 x 480 JPEG
Published March 21, 2009
Arctic sea ice reaches its maximum extent in mid-March, around the time of the Vernal Equinox. After the Equinox, sunlight shines at the North Pole constantly until fall, and the sea ice will gradually decline.
Sea Surface Temperature and Hurricane Bertha
720 x 480 PNG
Published July 26, 2008
On land, the passage of a severe storm might be marked by fallen trees or swollen streams. In the ocean, a hurricane leaves a swath of cold water in its path. That trail of cold water marks the passage of Hurricane Bertha through the North Atlantic Ocean in this sea surface temperature image.
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La Nina and Pacific Decadal Oscillation Cool the Pacific
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Published April 29, 2008
The cool water anomaly in the center of the image shows the lingering effect of the year-old La Niña. However, the much broader area of cooler-than-average water off the coast of North America from Alaska (top center) to the equator is a classic feature of the cool phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO).
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Record Sea Ice Minimum
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Published October 13, 2007
Arctic sea ice reached a record low in September 2007, below the previous record set in 2005 and substantially below the long-term average.
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Northwest Passage Nearly Open
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Published August 28, 2007
This image shows sea ice around the Northwest Passage as observed by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite on August 22, 2007. McClure Strait, Parry Channel, Victoria Strait, and McClintock Channel (north of Victoria Strait), all appear nearly ice-free. North of McClure Strait, an area of sea ice remains, but it is fragmented.
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Dust Dampens Hurricane Formation
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Published April 18, 2007
Warm sea surface temperatures help fuel hurricanes, and in 2006, those temperatures were cooler than expected. Why the difference between 2005 and 2006? William Lau of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Kyu-Myong Kim of University of Maryland-Baltimore County think the answer comes from the Sahara, namely dust.
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