Collaborative Research: A New Look at the Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Concentration

提供资金的目的是利用从三十多年(1972-2004年)每周海冰业务图得出的北半球海冰集中的新数据集，分析：(1)海冰面积和范围的长期区域变异性和趋势；(2)北冰洋冰类型组合的变化，以了解最近夏季冰范围最低纪录；(3)冰季持续时间，作为气候变化的指标；(4)冰边缘的变化模式，以便发展对海冰范围的预测能力。该数据集在很大程度上独立于海冰界大量使用的流行的被动微波海冰浓缩产品。许多人认为，海冰面积是北极环境对气候变化反应的风向标。该项目将以有效的方式利用长期的历史数据集来记录该参数的可变性。预计这一结果将对气候模型的验证和技能评估具有重要意义。

Funds are provided to use a new data set of Northern Hemisphere sea iceconcentration, derived from weekly operational ice charts spanning more than three decades (1972-2004), to analyze: (1) long-term regional variability and trends in sea ice area and extent; (2) the changing mix of ice types in the Arctic Ocean, in order to understand the recent record low summer ice extent minima; (3) the duration of the ice season, as an indicator of climate change; and (4) the modes of variability of the ice edge, in order to develop a predictive capability for sea ice extent. The data set is largely independent of the popular passive microwave sea ice concentration products that are heavily used by the sea ice community.Sea ice extent is believed by many to be a bellwether of environmental response to climate change in the Arctic. This project will utilize a long historical data set in an efficient manner to document the variability of this parameter. The results are anticipated to be important for the verification and skill assessment of climate models.