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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L09605, doi:10.1029/2005GL022395, 2005

Variations in the Arctic's multiyear sea ice cover: A neural network analysis of SMMR-SSM/I data, 1979–2004

Gennady I. Belchansky

Institute of Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia


David C. Douglas

USGS Alaska Science Center, Juneau, Alaska, USA


Vladimir A. Eremeev

Institute of Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia


Nikita G. Platonov

Institute of Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia


Abstract

A 26-year (1979–2004) observational record of January multiyear sea ice distributions, derived from neural network analysis of SMMR-SSM/I passive microwave satellite data, reveals dense and persistent cover in the central Arctic basin surrounded by expansive regions of highly fluctuating interannual cover. Following a decade of quasi equilibrium, precipitous declines in multiyear ice area commenced in 1989 when the Arctic Oscillation shifted to a pronounced positive phase. Although extensive survival of first-year ice during autumn 1996 fully replenished the area of multiyear ice, a subsequent and accelerated decline returned the depletion to record lows. The most dramatic multiyear sea ice declines occurred in the East Siberian, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas.

Received 10 January 2005; accepted 11 April 2005; published 10 May 2005.

Keywords: multiyear sea ice; passive microwave; neural network.

Index Terms: 1855 Hydrology: Remote sensing (1640); 1863 Hydrology: Snow and ice (0736, 0738, 0776, 1827); 3349 Atmospheric Processes: Polar meteorology; 4540 Oceanography: Physical: Ice mechanics and air/sea/ice exchange processes (0700, 0750, 0752, 0754); 9315 Geographic Location: Arctic region (0718, 4207).

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Citation: Belchansky, G. I., D. C. Douglas, V. A. Eremeev, and N. G. Platonov (2005), Variations in the Arctic's multiyear sea ice cover: A neural network analysis of SMMR-SSM/I data, 1979–2004, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L09605, doi:10.1029/2005GL022395.