Characterization of a satellite-based passive microwave sea ice concentration climate data record

A long-term, consistent, and reproducible satellite-based passive microwave sea ice concentration climate data record (CDR) is available for climate studies, monitoring, and model validation with an initial operation capability (IOC). The daily and monthly sea ice concentrations are on the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) polar stereographic grid with nominal 25 × 25 km grid cells in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres from 09 July 1987 to 31 December 2007 with an update through 2012 underway. The NetCDF data files along with detailed data processing steps and error source information can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5B56GN3. The dataset is archived by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) under the satellite climate data record program (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdr/operationalcdrs.html). The description and basic statistical characteristics of the CDR are presented here. Our analysis results have shown that while the Northern Hemisphere experiences diminishing sea ice extent for the two decades from January 1988 to December 2007 with a faster reduction rate for the annual minimum sea ice extent, the Southern Hemisphere has experienced slightly increase in its sea ice extent for the same period, especially for the annual maximum.