Loop of AMSR-E Daily Arctic Sea Ice from Aug 2005 to Aug 2006

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. Sea ice is almost always in motion, reacting to ocean currents and to winds. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor and independent of atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfalls. This animation of AMSR-E 89 GHz brightness temperature in the northern hemisphere during late 2005 and early 2006 clearly shows the dynamic motion of the ice as well as its seasonal expansion and contraction. This animation shows the seasonal advance and retreat of sea ice over the Arctic from 8/5/2005 through 8/4/2006. The false color of the sea ice, derived from the AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature, highlights the fissures in the sea ice by showing warmer areas of ice in a deeper blue and colder areas of sea ice in a brighter white. The sea ice extent is defined by a three-day moving average of the AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration, showing as ice all areas having a sea ice concentration greater than 15%.