Applications
Geodesy and geophysics.- Ocean.
- Ice.
- Ice sheets.
- Sea Ice.
- Ice on Lake Baikal.
- Arctic sea ice extent as observed by Envisat altimeter.
- Climate.
- Atmosphere, wind and waves.
- Hydrology and land.
- Coastal applications.
- Biology.
- Navigation by area.
Arctic sea ice extent as observed by Envisat
- Sea ice coverage averaged in 1°x1° boxes over September 2007 with respect to a mean over the previous years (2003-2006) derived from RA-2 data. Dark blue is open water (0), White (2) is the ice in September as usual; light blue (1) shows where ice has been observed previously and is not in 2007. (Credits CLS)
- Arctic as seen by AMSR-E radiometer onboard Aqua on September 16, 2007 (minimum sea ice extent for 2007). (Credits Nasa/NSIDC)
September 2007 saw a low sea ice extent record in Arctic. This has been seen by several sensors onboard satellites, the altimeter on Envisat among others. Indeed, for the first time, an altimetry satellite has measured open water sea surface height North East Siberia up to 82° during September.
The decrease of the sea ice extent is a problematic phenomena since the ice reflects the sun energy. Without ice, the sun radiations are absorbed by the ocean, thus increasing the warming.