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Spatio-temporal Variation of Arctic Sea Ice in Summer from 2003 to 2013

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Abstract

The variation in Arctic sea ice has significant implications for climate change due to its huge influence on the global heat balance. In this study, we quantified the spatio-temporal variation of Arctic sea ice distribution using Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) sea-ice concentration data from 2003 to 2013. The results found that, over this period, the extent of sea ice reached a maximum in 2004, whereas in 2007 and 2012, the extent of summer sea ice was at a minimum. It declined continuously from 2010 to 2012, falling to its lowest level since 2003. Sea-ice extent fell continuously each summer between July and mid-September before increasing again. It decreased most rapidly in September, and the summer reduction rate was 1.35 × 105 km2/yr, twice as fast as the rate between1979 and 2006, and slightly slower than from 2002 to 2011. Area with >90% sea-ice concentration decreased by 1.32 × 107 km2/yr, while locations with >50% sea-ice concentration, which were mainly covered by perennial ice, were near the North Pole, the Beaufort Sea, and the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Perennial Arctic ice decreased at a rate of 1.54 × 105 km2 annually over the past 11 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai, 264025, China

    Mengquan Wu & Lili Jia

  2. Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Yantai, 264003, China

    Qianguo Xing

  3. College of Geomatics & Municipal Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Xiaodong Song

Authors
  1. Mengquan Wu
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  2. Lili Jia
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  3. Qianguo Xing
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  4. Xiaodong Song
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Correspondence to Mengquan Wu.

Additional information

Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41676171), Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology of China (No. 2016ASKJ02), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong (No. ZR2015DM015), Yantai Science & Technology Project (No. 2013ZH094)

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Wu, M., Jia, L., Xing, Q. et al. Spatio-temporal Variation of Arctic Sea Ice in Summer from 2003 to 2013. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 28, 38–46 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-017-0929-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-017-0929-z

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