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	| These maps show monthly variation (standard deviation) sea ice concentration of the wmo standard climate period, 1991-2020. 
 Ice concentration is defined as the fraction of the sea surface which is covered by ice, where 100% corresponds to a complete ice cover and 0% corresponds to open waters. These maps are based on data from microwave satelites during the period from 1979 to 2022, which have been re-processed by the European project EUMETSAT OSI SAF into two data sets: a CDR from 1979 to 2020 and an ICDR from 2021 to 2022 (i.e. data set OSI-450-a and OSI-430-a). The sea ice typically reaches its maximum extent during March, extending approximately 14-16 million square kilometers, and its minimum extent by the end of september, which in the 1980's was approximately 7 million square kilometers compared to today's 3-5 million square kilometers.
 
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 |  |  |  | Toggle period wmo-standard / full
 | | | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |  |  |  | 
 |  |  |   |  |   |  In order to document OSI-SAF's impact and enable ongoing support of OSI-SAF, you are obligated to acknowledge OSI-SAF in your work. Therefore, if you wish to use any material presented here please read this file.
 
 This page is a result of the sea ice concentration climatology. To download a summary data set climatology click here.
 
 
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