Measuring Arctic and Antarctic Ice

Morton M. Sternheimwww.umassk12.net/digital

June, 2011

Arctic Ice Cap – 31 year change Sept. 1979 Sept. 2010

Arctic Ice Cap ShrinkingClimate change is greatest in polar regionsNorthwest and Northeast Arctic passages opening Monthly Arctic and Antarctic NOAA images online

from November 1978Students can measure areas with ADI Mask Colors

Seasonal increase and decrease in areaArctic area changes over the years

September extent decreased over 30% 1979-2010

Similarities and differences between Arctic, AntarcticHave each group do a few images, plot joint graph

Seasonal Variation March 2010 Sept. 2010

Arctic and Antarctic Ice Images ftp://sidads.colorado.edu/DATASETS/NOAA/G02135

Individual files, sorted by month; ice areas notedwww.umassk12.net/digital/materials/Summer2011/polarice

Zip files with and without areas March, September image zip files for all yearsMonthly images for 2010 Use ADI Mask Colors to measure areas