Arctic Sea Ice Spiral
- Visualizations by:
- Mark SubbaRao
- View full credits
This data visualization shows the Arctic sea ice extent from October 1978 to September 2022. The amount of Arctic sea ice varies seasonally, typically reaching a maximum in March and a minimum in September. Recently, the Arctic sea ice minimum has been decreasing at a rate of 13% per decade. Please see Global Climate Change Vital Signs: Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Extent for more information.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Visualizer
- Mark SubbaRao (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET)
Web administrator
- Eytan Kaplan (GST)
Datasets used in this visualization
DMSP, DMSP 5D-3/F17, DMSP 5D-3/F18, Nimbus-7 Sea Ice Index (A.K.A. Sea Ice Index) (Collected with the SMMR, SSM/I, SSMIS sensor)
The Sea Ice Index provides a quick look at Arctic- and Antarctic-wide changes in sea ice. It is a source for consistent, up-to-date sea ice extent and concentration images, in PNG format, and data values, in GeoTIFF and ASCII text files, from November 1978 to the present. Sea Ice Index images also depict trends and anomalies in ice cover calculated using a 30-year reference period of 1981 through 2010. The images and data are produced in a consistent way that makes the Index time-series appropriate for use when looking at long-term trends in sea ice cover. Both monthly and daily products are available. However, monthly products are better to use for long-term trend analysis because errors in the daily product tend to be averaged out in the monthly product and because day-to-day variations are often the result of short-term weather.
Credit: Data Contributors: Florence Fetterer, Kenneth Knowles, Walter Meier, Matthew Savoie, Ann Windnagel
Dataset can be found at: https://nsidc.org/data/g02135/versions/3#anchor-1
See more visualizations using this data setNote: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Related pages
NASA Climate Spiral 1880-2022
Jan. 12th, 2023
Read moreThe NASA climate spiral 1880-2022. This version is in Celsius; see below for an alternate version in Fahrenheit. Both a 30 fps, 60 second duration video and 60 fps, 30 second duration video are available. The NASA climate spiral 1880-2022. This version is in Fahrenheit; see above for an alternate version in Celsius. Both a 30 fps, 60 second duration video and 60 fps, 30 second duration video are available. The visualization presents monthly global temperature anomalies between the years 1880-2022. Temperature anomalies are deviations from a long term global avergage. In this case the period 1951-1980 is used to define the baseline for the anomaly. These temperatures are based on the GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP v4), an estimate of global surface temperature change. The data file used to create this visualization is publically accessible here.The term 'climate spiral' describes an animated radial plot of global temperatures. Climate scientist Ed Hawkins from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading popularized this style of visualization in 2016.The Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York. Related pages
GISTEMP Climate Spiral
March 7th, 2022
Read moreThe GISTEMP climate spiral 1880-2021. This version is in Celsius, see below for an alternate version in Fahrenheit. The GISTEMP climate spiral 1880-2021. This version is in The GISTEMP climate spiral 1880-2021. This version is in Fahrenheit, see above for an alternate version in Celsius. The visualization presents monthly global temperature anomalies between the years 1880-2021. These temperatures are based on the GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP v4), an estimate of global surface temperature change. Anomalies are defined relative to a base period of 1951-1980. The data file used to create this visualization can be accessed here.The Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.The 'climate spiral' is a visualization designed by climate scientist Ed Hawkins from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading. Climate spiral visualizations have been widely distributed, a version was even part of the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Related pages