Exploring Arctic Climate Change with NSIDC Data

Walt Meier Research Scientist

Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness NetworkJune 8, 2011

http://nsidc.org

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

University of Colorado

National Snow and Ice Data Center

• Part of the University of Colorado at Boulder• NOAA Cooperative Institute for Research in

Environmental Sciences (CIRES)• NASA archive center for cryospheric data• Funding and responsibilities

~75% data managemento ~75 TB of data total, ~15 TB/year

~25% research

• Main sponsors:

The Cryosphere

CryosphereCryosphereCryosphere

Snow and ice spans the globe, from the equator to the poles.

The cryosphere is found in over 100 countries

Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) Cryosphere Theme Report

Countries affected by the cryosphere

Change in the cryosphere:

-11.5% per decade 1979-2000Average

2007: 39% below average2008: 34% below average2009: 24% below average2010: 30% below average

NSIDC Sea Ice Index, http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/

Summer Arctic sea ice extent is declining

Resources:• NSIDC:

Data on Google Earth: http://nsidc.org/data/virtual_globes/ Education Center: http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/

o “All About” pages, “State of the Cryosphere”

Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ “Icelights”: http://nsidc.org/icelights/

o Companion to news page – more in depth info on topical sea ice issues

Sea Ice Index: http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/ Atlas of the Cryosphere: http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/

• Selected other sites: “Whither Arctic Sea Ice?” EET Chapter: http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/ “Windows on the Universe” Sea Ice:

http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/graphs/teach_sea_ice_extent.html

A Tour of the Cryosphere, NASA Scientific Visualization Studio: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/TourOfCryosphere09.html

NOAA Arctic Theme Page: http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/ Snowtweets: http://snowcore.uwaterloo.ca/snowtweets/

NSIDC data on Google Earth

• Sea ice Animation

and static images

• Snow• Permafrost• Glaciers• Glacier pair

photos

http://nsidc.org/data/virtual_globes/

New: Climate Change Tour of Cold Places – narrated tour of snow and icehttp://nsidc.org/data/virtual_globes/tours/NSIDC_ClimateChangeTour.kml

NSIDC Education Center

• NSIDC Education Center

• Background info on: Sea ice Glaciers Snow Frozen ground Arctic climate

http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/

NSIDC Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis

• Track Arctic sea ice daily

• Monthly interpretation of conditions

• More frequent posts during summer

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

NSIDC “Icelights”

• Highlight current sea ice research

• Address common questions

http://nsidc.org/icelights/

NSIDC Sea Ice Index

• Daily/month images and data Extent Concentration Anomalies

• Compare and animate images

• Total extent text values since 1979

http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/

NSIDC resources

Atlas of the Cryosphere, http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/

WMS, OCG compliant web map serverSeveral Arctic (static) layers – sea ice snow, permafrost, snow, geographic locations

http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/

Whither Arctic Sea Ice?Using Sea Ice Data in the Classroom

AccessData Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter

http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/

Developed by:

Walt Meier National Snow and Ice Data Center, Univ. ColoradoCoop. Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences

Betsy YoungmanPhoenix Country Day School

Mark McCaffreyCoop. Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences

Anupma PrakashGeophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Brian RoganBoston Museum of Science

http://nsidc.org/data/atlas/

An Arctic in Transformation

Whither Arctic Sea Ice?Using Sea Ice Data in the Classroom

• Use satellite data of sea ice to analyze trends and variability, 1979-present

• Case studies for various regions• Impacts on people/wildlife• Hudson Bay developed, others

possible• Imagery and animations for qualitative

analysis• Quantitative data for more involved analysis

• Uses ImageJ (freeware) for data/image analysis and processing

• MS Excel or other spreadsheet for further data analysis

http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/

Windows on the Universe

• Same data as Whither Arctic Sea Ice

• Similar method, but more basic

NASA “A Tour of the Cryosphere”

• Video podcast• NASA data of the

cryosphere• Updated in 2009

NOAA Resources on Arctic climate

NOAA Arctic Change, http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/

SnowTweets Project

R. Kelly, Univ. Waterloo, http://snowcore.uwaterloo.ca/snowtweets/