Sea Ice Temperatures
The surface temperature of the ocean and sea ice has a significant impact on the exchange of energy between the surface and the atmosphere, and thus also on how quickly sea ice forms between September and March, or how quickly it melts between March and September. The ice temperature anomaly indicates whether the freezing or melting is occurring faster or slower than normal.
The figure shows the deviation of today’s average temperature from the 1991–2020 average. The black line indicates the boundary between open ocean and sea ice.
The surface temperature of the ocean and sea ice has a significant impact on the exchange of energy between the surface and the atmosphere, and thus also on how quickly sea ice forms between September and March, or how quickly the ice melts between March and September.
The figure shows today’s average temperature of the ocean and sea ice. The black line indicates the boundary between open ocean and sea ice.
Surface temperature is important
In order to be able to forecast the weather and the properties of the sea ice using numerical models, it is crucial that the surface temperature is determined correctly.
Data from satellites is the primary source of information because the Arctic suffers from poor coverage in terms of the conventional observational network, which consists of drifting buoys and a number of land-based stations.
At DMI, the temperature of the surface is not measured directly. Instead, observations are used from three infrared channels on the “Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer” (AVHRR), which is on board the MetOp-A satellite. The instrument is unable to see through clouds, however. A statistical method is therefore used to provide the missing data. The edge of the ice is shown as a black contour line. It is defined by a sea ice concentration of 15%, i.e. 15% of the surface is covered by ice.
More information:
This integreted Ice and Sea surface temperature product is part of the EU satellite monitoring program for marine environment, Copernicus CMEMS. The product is based on the OSI-205 product from EUMETSAT Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (EUMETSAT, OSI SAF). The figure shows the latest 36-hour sliding mean temperature of the ice- and ocean surface.