Articles | Volume 12, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-433-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-433-2018
Research article
 | 
06 Feb 2018
Research article |  | 06 Feb 2018

The Arctic sea ice cover of 2016: a year of record-low highs and higher-than-expected lows

Alek A. Petty, Julienne C. Stroeve, Paul R. Holland, Linette N. Boisvert, Angela C. Bliss, Noriaki Kimura, and Walter N. Meier

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Cited articles

Anderson, M., Bliss, A. C., and Drobot, S: Snow Melt Onset Over Arctic Sea Ice from SMMR and SSM/I-SSMIS Brightness Temperatures, Version 3 [2000–2016], https://doi.org/10.5067/22NFZL42RMUO, 2014. 
Bliss, A. C. and Anderson, M. R.: Snowmelt onset over Arctic sea ice from passive microwave satellite data: 1979–2012, The Cryosphere, 8, 2089–2100, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2089-2014, 2014. 
Bliss, A. C., Miller, J. A., and Meier, W. N.: Comparison of Passive Microwave-Derived Early Melt Onset Records on Arctic Sea Ice, Remote Sens., 9, 199, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9030199, 2017. 
Boisvert, L. N., Petty, A. A., and Stroeve, J. C.: The impact of the extreme winter 2015/2016 Arctic cyclone on the Barents-Kara seas, Mon. Weather Rev., 144, 4279–4287, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-16-0234.1, 2016. 
Cavalieri, D. J., Parkinson, C. L., Gloersen, P., and Zwally, H. J.: Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 1 [January 2000–December 20160], NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA, https://doi.org/10.5067/8GQ8LZQVL0VL, 1996 (updated 2017). 
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Short summary
There was significant scientific and media attention surrounding Arctic sea ice in 2016, due primarily to the record-warm air temperatures and low sea ice conditions observed at the start of the year. Here we quantify and assess the record-low monthly sea ice cover in winter, spring and fall, and the lack of record-low sea ice conditions in summer. We explore the primary drivers of these monthly sea ice states and explore the implications for improved summer sea ice forecasting.