HR: 0830h
AN: C41C-0999    [PDF]
TI: A 33-Year Data Set of Sea of Okhotsk Sea Ice Observations
AU: * Savoie, M H
EM: savoie@nsidc.org
AF: National Snow and Ice Data Center, UCB 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Fetterer, F
EM: fetterer@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: National Snow and Ice Data Center, UCB 449, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Matsumoto, T
EM: matsumoto@met.kishou.go.jp
AF: Climate Prediction Division; Climate and Marine Department; Japan Meteorological Agency, Otemachi 1-3-4, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8122 Japan
AB: Studies have used satellite passive microwave derived ice concentrations to study the variability of sea ice in the Sea of Okhotsk, and its relationship to forcing factors such as atmospheric pressure systems. Passive microwave data provide a continuous record but are of relatively coarse resolution (about 25 km), which limits their utility for studying ice conditions in smaller seas. Land contamination, and smearing of the ice edge, are problems. The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) has contributed digitally encoded versions of operational sea ice charts to the World Meteorological Agency's Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank project. The charts are composed of observations from shore-based radar, ship and aircraft observations, and satellite data. There is one chart every 5 days, for December through May of each year. Total concentration from the charts has been mapped to a 12.5 km equal area grid. Monthly summary statistics, including frequency of ice occurrence, maximum, median and minimum concentration and median extent, have been derived. The results have been compared with results from the satellite passive microwave record. In addition to offering better resolution, the JMA data are less biased by surface melt effects than are passive microwave data.
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting