Sea Ice Classification

Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
Ice Type

latest sea ice

latest sea ice

Ice Edge

latest sea ice

latest sea ice

 

Sea ice edge and sea ice type are classification products with the following classes:

Sea ice edge classes

  • open water = no sea ice or less than 30% ice contration
  • open ice = sea ice concentration between 30% and 70%
  • closed ice = sea ice concentration more than 70%

Sea ice type classes

  • open water = no sea ice or less than 30% ice contration
  • first-year ice = seasonal sea ice less than 1 year old
  • multiyear ice = sea ice more than 1 year old
  • ambiguous = either first year ice or multiyear ice, but with uncertain classification

For more details on the sea ice edge and type products see the EUMETSAT OSI SAF webpage, including documentations, product archive and quicklooks.