Difference between sea ice cover in two datasets

To measure sea ice cover, researchers splice together observations from different instruments flown on a number of different satellites. They then use an algorithm – the most prevalent being the Bootstrap algorithm – and further processing to estimate sea ice cover from these data. A new The Cryosphere study compares two datasets for sea ice measurements: one generated using a version of Bootstrap updated in 2007, and another that results from an older version of the algorithm. Subtracting the older dataset from the new one, shows a spurious jump in the satellite record in December 1991. The vertical dotted lines indicate transitions between satellite sensors, with the December 1991 change dominating the difference in ice cover in the two versions. (Click image for higher resolution.)

Credit: Eisenman et al., The Cryosphere, 2014

• Has Antarctic sea ice expansion been overestimated? (22 July 2014)

• Original image (76.5 KB, 1388.0x539.0 px)
• Preview image (29.7 KB, 1280x497 px, JPEG format)

Go back