Between 2008 and 2019 the region has lost 0.37 meters thick from its ice sheet.
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The thickness of sea ice in the Arctic has decreased by 20% in 11 years, according to observations from NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite, launched in 2018 to monitor changes in the polar regions, and those of the original ICESat mission. which ended in 2008.
The study Published in mid-April in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (JGR Oceans) has determined that between February and March 2008 and the same period in 2019, the thickness of ice in the Arctic Ocean has decreased by 20%. When comparing the data from February 19 to March 21, 2008 with that of 2019, the scientists determined that in 11 years the sea ice has lost 0.37 meters thick.
One of the study’s authors, Ron Kwok, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles, he pointed which is the first time they have been able to “get the depth of the snow throughout the sea ice sheet of the Arctic Ocean. “” The Arctic region is a desert, but the snow we get is very important in terms of climate and insulating sea ice, “he said.
The researchers found that snow in the Arctic begins to accumulate in October, when there are about five centimeters on the newly emerged ice and on the so-called multi-year ice, which survives for years, a 14-centimeter layer of snow rests. In December and January the snowfalls intensify and in April the fallen snow reaches its maximum depth, about 17 centimeters on new ice and up to 27 centimeters on older ice.
The decrease in ice thickness by 20% that scientists have observed does not match CryoSat-2 satellite data from the European Space Agency, which do not show that reduction. This is because CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 use different methods for measurements of sea ice.
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Thus, the European satellite measures the height with a radar passing through the snow to measure the top of the ice, while the NASA satellite has a leader, explained the study’s lead author, Alek Petty, noting that each satellite has its advantages and disadvantages.
“I think we are going to learn a lot from these two approaches to measuring ice thickness. They could give us an upper and lower limit on the thickness of sea ice, and the correct answer is probably somewhere in the middle,” Petty said. “There are reasons why ICESat-2 estimates could be low and reasons why CryoSat-2 estimates could be high, and we need to do more work to understand and align these measurements with each other,” he concluded.
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