Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice since 1979. Every summer the Arctic ice cap melts down to what scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to cause ice cover to increase. The first six months of 2016 have been the warmest first half of any year in our recorded history of surface temperature (which goes back to 1880). Data shows that the Arctic temperature increases are much bigger, relatively, than the rest of the globe. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) provides many water-related products derived from data acquired by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) instrument aboard the Global Change Observation Mission 1st-Water "SHIZUKU" (GCOM-W1) satellite. Two JAXA datasets used in this animation are the 10-km daily sea ice concentration and the 10 km daily 89 GHz Brightness Temperature. This image shows the Arctic sea ice on September 10, 2016 when the ice reached its minimum extent. The opacity of the sea ice is derived from the sea ice concentration where it is greater than 15. The blueish white color of the sea ice is derived the AMSR2 89 GHz brightness temperature.
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