Mark Brandon • October 26, 2017 As daylight has returned to Antarctica it is straightforward to pick out polynya forming on the edge of the Antarctic continent. This one by the Stange Ice Shelf and Rydberg Peninsula caught my eye. It is a latent heat polynya formed as the winds push the sea ice away […]
The time sequence from the EllsworthLIVE site It is a fantastic time to be interested in polar science. Right now at Lake Ellsworth in Antarctica a team of British scientists and engineers are drilling through 3 km of ice to reach the Lake Windermere sized Lake Ellsworth. This picture was posted on their www site […]
Mark Brandon • February 17, 2017 I noticed yesterday that a polynya had formed in front of the Ronne Ice Shelf over the last 2 weeks. Screengrab from NASA Worldview 17 February 2017 In that image it is about 27,000 km2 in area. I mapped the opening of the polynya from MODIS imagery over the last two […]
Trying to understand the geographic nature of the very low Antarctic sea ice extent I made the following animation: Antarctic sea ice extent on 1 March for the years 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2017. Data from DMSP SMMI. The highlight issues in the graphic are the clear lack of sea ice in […]
The sea ice in the Arctic is at maximum extent in February and retreats through to mid September. This movie shows the Arctic sea ice extent from 1 Feb to 25 July 2017. The data come from the DMSP SMMI sensor, and it shows the retreat of the sea ice as summer progresses. You can […]
On 26th September 2016 the MODIS sensor on The TERRA satellite captured this beautiful image of South Georgia, with Iceberg A66 drifting past. Iceberg A66 passing South Georgia captured in a MODIS image on the 26 September 2016. The image is available on a KML file on the MODIS Websites. The iceberg A66 is about […]
This post starts with that carboncounter_ fellow. He tweeted last night: https://twitter.com/CarbonCounter_/status/288423035533414400 I said I had and that I was impressed with how easy it was. To my surprise a couple of people chimed in they hadn’t got theirs or that they didn’t know it was happening. my understanding is that they are rolling it […]
Mark Brandon • December 21, 2012 On twitter this pm is a not unexpected, but rather interesting looking opportunity for those who are confident about their leadership abilities. [news] NERC seeks new Director for BAS: NERC is looking for a new BAS director; full details are available on th… http://t.co/eCHWDIsv — British Antarctic Survey 🐧 […]
The extent and thickness of the Arctic sea ice is decreasing for every month of the year. But looking at straight lines on graphs with a relentless downward trend it’s easy to lose the geographic sense of what is happening. The red areas in the plot below show where ice was absent on 3 March […]
On 25th April 2019, the Arctic sea ice extent was 1.2 million km² below the 1981-2010 mean. Sea ice in the Arctic currently ~1.2 million km² below the 1981-2010 mean. 25 April 2019. If we compare the sea ice extent today, with the mean sea ice extent for the period 1989-93, the red colours show […]
Quick post on the Maud Polynya in the Weddell Sea that I wrote about last week. This is the sea ice data 17 September 2017, and the polynya is both clear and large. The location of the polynya over Maud Rise. Sea ice data from DMSP SMMI. An enlargement of the polynya shows that it is […]
So I was at this award ceremony, like I usually am. And….. Getting THE Innovative Teacher of the Year Award 2012 Surprising stuff, and a huge honour. In the picture are from L-R David Walliams, Me, Professor David Gibson, and Professor Craig Mahoney. The other five people shortlisted are all clearly amazing teachers, so I have no idea […]
I was interested in how long the polynya I blogged about yesterday had existed. I made a gif of the previous months sea ice data. The sea ice extent in Pine Island Bay 11 September to 10 October 2016. Data from DMSP SSMI. The development of the polynya can be seen in the growth of the […]
Mark Brandon • January 31, 2014 In the previous post I made a plot of Antarctica and compared it to the size of Europe. I made the throwaway point that it was unreasonable to imagine Antarctica as being characterized with one climatic zone. It is not all the “coldest and windiest place” on Earth. I […]