Variability of sea ice concentration over Antarctica during recent decade: Variability of sea ice concentration over Antarctica during recent decade: S K Sahoo et al.

In polar regions, sea ice plays a crucial role in the global climate system due to its reflectivity in the energy budget at the Earth's surface, which exchanges heat, momentum, and gases between the atmosphere and ocean. To understand the mean and spatiotemporal variability of observed sea ice concentration (SIC) in the recent decade, we have used the observed satellite-derived SIC data from 2011–2022 from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The spatial distribution, trend analysis, and correlation coefficient (CC) between the SIC were analyzed over the Antarctic region. Further in this study, the annual and seasonal mean of SIC data was also investigated over different regions of Antarctic. The study reveals that there is an increasing annual as well as seasonal trend of SIC for the period 1979–2022. We compared the SIC trend during the recent decade (2011–2022), showing a decreasing trend, both annual and seasonal, over Antarctica. For regional analysis, there is an increasing trend (Ross Sea) during the growing season and Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas during the melting season. The anomaly correlation was computed for different seasons and regions to understand the relationship between the SIC and the Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA) SST. Naturally, a strong negative correlation exists between annual (CC = –0.73) as well as seasonal (CC = –0.63; melting and CC = –0.51; growing) SIC and SST anomalies, which indicate that the areas covered by maximum SIC, will absorb less downward radiation, resulting in cooler SSTs over Antarctica and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]