Sea Ice Extent as the Equinox Approaches - related image preview

720 x 480
JPEG

Sea Ice Extent as the Equinox Approaches - related image preview

JPEG

Sea Ice Extent as the Equinox Approaches

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.


NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using AMSR-E Sea Ice Concentration data provided courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Caption by Holli Riebeek.

Published March 21, 2009
Data acquired March 15, 2008

Source:
Aqua > AMSR-E