NOAA measures extent of Arctic sea ice
NOAA researchers set out this week on a two-week mission to fly over the Arctic to measure how much the ice has melted over the summer and gauge the speed of this fall’s refreezing of sea ice. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2014's minimum sea ice extent was 1.94 million square miles, the 6th smallest on record. Aboard a NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, a highly specialized four-engine turboprop known for its work as a hurricane hunter, researchers will use scientific instruments to measure the extent of this summer's melt before the ice begins freezing for winter. The Tampa, Florida-based aircraft will operate out of Fairbanks International Airport. This is the second year in a row scientists have flown above Arctic waters. Data gathered from both years is testing a hypothesis that increased summer heat stored in the newly sea-ice free areas of the Arctic Ocean lead to surface heat fluxes in autumn that are large enough to have impacts on atmospheric temperature, humidity, wind and cloud distributions. James Overland, Ph.D., Arctic researcher with NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle said: "Both the sea ice area and its thickness have been decreasing dramatically during the ...
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