Current Month Arctic Sea Ice Explorer:

Above you will notice three images of the Arctic open in the SEAICEBOX explorer. The first image represents the current daily image. This image is selected and active. The second image is from the same month one decade before today's image. The third is from the same month two decades before today's image. Each image has a drop down menu from which you can select any three images in the database at a time going back to 1979 for comparison.

Click here to see the latest news on Arctic Sea ice from NSIDC

First time user?

If this is your first time using SEAICEBOX, you may be wondering how to select images, use the analysis tools, or what kinds of questions you might explore. And, you really want to know why there is a hole in the middle of the Arctic images?
Our First Time Users tutorial can help.

How to Use SEAICEBOX Tools

Zoom and Roam
When on, left mouse click to zoom in; right click to zoom out. Click and hold to drag a zoomed image. Restore zooms all the way out.

Probe
Press the Probe button and then pass your cursor over the large window. A readout will appear showing the unit value of each pixel.

Line Graph/Distance
When on, these allow you to draw a line segment across any part of the scene in the large window and see a graph (Line Graph) or distance of the line.

Select/outline region
When on, regions can be outlined and then plotted by clicking on the graphing buttons (histogram, scatter).

Step
Hitting the Step button will cycle through each of the three thumbnail images in the larger display window.

Animate/Stop
Toggle these buttons to animate the three thumbnail images in the larger display window.

What is the hole in the middle?