On the value of long-term satellite passive microwave data sets for sea ice/climate studies

In spite of the importance of sea ice to polar climates, sea ice/climate studies have been limited in the past due to the lack of consistent, long-term, global sea ice records. Satellite passive microwave technology, available since the early 1970s, now provides the potential of generating the desired long-term data sets. With passive microwave data, global sea ice distributions can be mapped on a routine basis every few days, to a spatial resolution on the order of 30 km. The sea ice records generated so far from such satellite data have already been used in many scientific investigations, helping to quantify global sea ice distributions and their seasonal and interannual variations, and to illuminate possible ice/ocean and ice/atmosphere interactions. The results to date augur well for the possibilities once the satellite passive microwave record is long enough to form a true climatic data base.