Detection of Ice Cover Change in Russia's Arctic Seas from Passive Microwave Radiometry

Abstract

This paper investigates changes in the ice area of the Northern Hemisphere using passive microwave data obtained from satellite observations during the period November 1978 -December 1999. More specifically, changes occuring in the seas off Russia's northern Arctic coastline were analyzed using the SMMR (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer) of the Nimbus-7 satellite and SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) on board the DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) series of satellites. The situation in particular seas (e.g., East Siberian and Barents) is compared with the pattern typical of the entire Northern Hemisphere (decreasing ice cover at a rate of ca. 3% per decade).