Arctic Sea Ice & Greenland Ice Maps

The Atlantic Arctic connection

Warm Atlantic water flows north into the Arctic. Water and sea ice return south through passages such as Fram Strait, linking the two oceans.

Read about this ocean connection ↗

Satellite-derived · Sea-ice extent

Where is the ice?

Map view

Satellite-derived estimates on a 25 km grid. Concentration adds coverage detail, not finer spatial resolution. Select a map for its full-size image and legend.

Satellite view · NASA imagery

See the ocean, ice and clouds in true colour. This daily mosaic combines satellite passes; it is not a live camera or a measurement of ice concentration.

Image date (UTC)

White may be cloud, snow or ice. Black areas have no usable imagery, often because of polar darkness; they do not mean open water. Coverage and brightness vary between passes. This view has a different projection and framing from the NSIDC map above.

NASA GIBS · NOAA-20 VIIRS corrected reflectance. Images load directly from NASA only when this section is opened. Select the image to enlarge.

Latest accepted daily value in this snapshot

Sea-ice extent

million km²

Extent counts ocean grid cells with at least 15% sea-ice concentration. It does not measure ice thickness or volume.

Sea ice and land ice are different.

This page measures floating sea ice. It does not measure Greenland’s or Antarctica’s ice-sheet mass loss, or directly tell us how much sea level is rising.

The seasonal cycle

How does this year compare?

The sea area covered by ice each month, compared with that month’s 1981–2010 average. Only completed, published months are shown.

Choose a year

Selected year1981–2010 monthly average

Read the monthly values

The longer record

How has the same month changed?

Follow the sea area covered by ice in the same calendar month across years. Each point is a monthly average, not an annual minimum or maximum.

Calendar monthInspect a year

Compare the same month on the map

The left map follows the year slider above. Choose a reference year for the right map. Both maps show monthly means for the same month and hemisphere.

Reference year

Both maps use the selected month and ice view. Missing source images remain unavailable.

Read and download the historical values

Download source CSV ↗

An ice-filled fjord between dark mountains beneath low cloud

Compare September for the end of the melt season and March for winter ice coverage. These charts show changes in sea-ice extent; they don’t explain what caused them.

Explore a little further

Places, research and the landscape beneath the ice

Explore these external resources from the NERC Arctic Office and British Antarctic Survey. They provide geographic and research context alongside our sea-ice records.

Find your way around the Arctic

The Arctic Office’s interactive map brings together place names, seabed relief and research-station locations. Use it for orientation; check individual stations with their operators for current information.

Explore the Arctic Office map ↗

Links open the source websites in a new tab.

Data sources, updates & photograph credits →

ARCTIC EXPLORER

An ocean in transition.

Autumn ice returns against a backdrop of long-term loss.