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Cryosphere Now: Sea and Freshwater Ice

The most recent floating (sea, lake, and river) ice information is given below. They are generally 1-4 days old. Hover over a thumbnail to get the full image, description, and credits. Important: The products shown on the "Cryosphere Now" pages provide a variety of perspectives on the state of the cryosphere. They are for purposes of illustration and comparison and are not necessarily endorsed by GCW as "authoritative". Note: Some of the products are not available during the summer.

Global:

NOAA Multisensor Snow/Ice Cover

The Global Snow and Ice Cover Map is derived from combined observations of METOP AVHRR, MSG SEVIRI, GOES Imager and DMSP SSMIS. The algorithm is fully automated. This is an experimental product. It is a NOAA/NESDIS product. (Courtesy of Peter Romanov)

Northern Hemisphere:

NiPR-JAXA Ice Extent Tracker

NiPR-JAXA sea ice extent tracker based on AMSR2 ice concentraiton. An interactive version is available on their website.

OSI SAF Ice Extent Tracker

Sea-ice extent for Northern Hemisphere from the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF, osisaf.met.no).

NSIDC Ice Extent Tracker

Ice Time Series plots are from NSIDC.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Trend

NiPR-JAXA sea ice extent trend for the September minimum. More plots are available from the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Arctic Data archive System (ADS).

 
NiPR-JAXA AMSR2 Snow & Ice

JAXA's composite image product with sea ice concentration, sea surface temperature, and snow depth on land. From AMSR2 data. More plots are available from the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Arctic Data archive System (ADS).

VIIRS Ice Concentration

This is a daily composite of sea ice concentration from S-NPP VIIRS orbits. It is generally 5 days old. This is a NOAA "enterprise" algorithm; it is not the NOAA operational algorithm distributed through CLASS. It produced by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and NOAA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Caution: There are sometimes issues with the cloud mask that are seen in the ice concentration plots.

NSIDC Ice Extent

This is NSIDC's ice extent product.

MASIE Ice Extent

NSIDC produces MASIE (may-zee) in cooperation with the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC). MASIE relies on data from the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) that runs at the NIC. The IMS product uses several satellite data sources including passive microwave, but it is also based on visual analysis and other data sources and undergoes a form of manual data fusion.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Thickness

NiPR-JAXA sea ice thickness. More information is available on their website.

CryoSat Ice Thickness

28-day composite of sea ice thickness based on CryoSat data from the CryoSat Operational Polar Monitoring (CPOM) group and the European Space Agency (ESA). CPOM's CryoSat sea ice thickness website, with additional information and access to the data, is http://www.cpom.ucl.ac.uk/csopr/seaice.html. 14-day and 2-day composites are also available.

SMOS Ice Thickness

Sea ice thickness from ESA's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. Important: The maximum retrievable ice thickness with SMOS is about 1 m. Additional information and data are available from the Universität Hamburg.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Age (in years)

NiPR-JAXA sea ice age. This product is calculated every day but with a 6-day lag. More information is available on their website.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Age (in days)

NiPR-JAXA sea ice age. This product is calculated every day but with a 6-day lag. More information is available on their website.

OSI SAF Ice Drift

OSI SAF Ice Drift is the low resolution sea ice drift product from the EUMETSAT Ocean & Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF). It is based on SSMIS and ASCAT data.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Drift

NiPR-JAXA sea ice drift. More information is available on their website.

VIIRS Ice Surface Temperature

This is a daily composite of sea ice surface (skin) temperature (IST) from S-NPP VIIRS orbits. It is generally 5 days old. This is a NOAA "enterprise" algorithm; it is not the NOAA operational algorithm distributed through CLASS. It produced by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and NOAA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Caution: There are sometimes issues with the cloud mask that are seen in the IST plots.

See also:

Southern Hemisphere:

NiPR-JAXA Ice Extent Tracker

NiPR-JAXA sea ice extent tracker based on AMSR2 ice concentraiton. An interactive version is available on their website.

OSI SAF Ice Extent Tracker

Sea-ice extent for Southern Hemisphere from the EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI SAF, osisaf.met.no).

NSIDC Ice Extent Tracker

Ice Time Series plots are from NSIDC.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Trend

NiPR-JAXA sea ice extent trend for the February minimum. More plots are available from the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Arctic Data archive System (ADS).

AARI/NIC/NMI Ice Concentration

Sea ice total concentration and icebergs from the integrated sea ice analysis for Antarctic waters by AARI/NIC/NMI (Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Russian Federation/National Ice Center, USA/Norwegian Meteorological Institute) (full resolution image here).

AARI/NIC/NMI Devel. Stages

Sea ice stages of development and icebergs from the integrated sea ice analysis for Antarctic waters by AARI/NIC/NMI (Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Russian Federation/National Ice Center, USA/Norwegian Meteorological Institute) (full resolution image here).

NSIDC Ice Extent

This is NSIDC's ice extent product.

JAXA AMSR2 Snow & Ice

JAXA's composite image product with sea ice concentration, sea surface temperature, and snow depth on land. From AMSR2 data. More plots are available from the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Arctic Data archive System (ADS).

AMSR2 Ice Concentration

The AMSR2 ice concentration data are from CIMSS/NOAA.

VIIRS Ice Concentration

This is a daily composite of sea ice concentration from S-NPP VIIRS orbits. It is generally 5 days old. This is a NOAA "enterprise" algorithm; it is not the NOAA operational algorithm distributed through CLASS. It produced by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and NOAA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Caution: There are sometimes issues with the cloud mask that are seen in the ice concentration plots.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Age (in years)

NiPR-JAXA sea ice age. This product is calculated every day but with a 6-day lag. More information is available on their website.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Age (in days)

NiPR-JAXA sea ice age. This product is calculated every day but with a 6-day lag. More information is available on their website.

NiPR-JAXA Ice Drift

NiPR-JAXA sea ice drift. More information is available on their website.

VIIRS Ice Surface Temperature

This is a daily composite of sea ice surface (skin) temperature (IST) from S-NPP VIIRS orbits. It is generally 5 days old. This is a NOAA "enterprise" algorithm; it is not the NOAA operational algorithm distributed through CLASS. It produced by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and NOAA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Caution: There are sometimes issues with the cloud mask that are seen in the IST plots.

See also:

Regional Products:

ASIP Alaska Ice Concentration

Ice concentration for the Alaska region from the NOAA/NWS Alaska Sea Ice Program (ASIP). More information is available on their website.

ASIP Alaska Ice Concentration

Ice concentration in the Cook Inlet of Alaska from the NOAA/NWS Alaska Sea Ice Program (ASIP). More information is available on their website.

ASIP Alaska Ice Concentration

5-day sea ice forecast map of the Alaska region from the NOAA/NWS Alaska Sea Ice Program (ASIP). More information is available on their website.

Svalbard Sea Ice Area

Sea-ice area around Svalbard from the archive of ice charts from the Ice Service of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (cryo.met.no)

Great Lakes Ice, West

Great Lakes ice chart, western portion, a product of the North American Ice Service (NAIS) obtained from the National Ice Center (NIC). These products are constructed by NIC analysts using various imagery sources with resolutions down to 50 meters per pixel. Imagery sources include but are not limited to ENVISAT, DMSP OLS, AVHRR, and RADARSAT. NIC ice analysts provide the necessary value-added interpretation of these imagery sources to properly identify the extent of the ice edge contours.

Great Lakes Ice, East

Great Lakes ice chart, eastern portion, , a product of the North American Ice Service (NAIS) obtained from the National Ice Center (NIC). These products are constructed by NIC analysts using various imagery sources with resolutions down to 50 meters per pixel. Imagery sources include but are not limited to ENVISAT, DMSP OLS, AVHRR, and RADARSAT. NIC ice analysts provide the necessary value-added interpretation of these imagery sources to properly identify the extent of the ice edge contours.

Other Resources: