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Measuring sea ice extent and area

2 grids with 25 cells each showing how grids with less than 15% ice are not counted to determine sea ice extent and area.

Grid cells are used to calculate sea ice area and sea ice extent. Each grid cell in this simplified representation, represents a square kilometre (in actuality, the area covered is far greater). The numbers show the cell’s estimated percentage of ice cover. This approach excludes cells below the 15 % threshold (blue) but also treats cells above that threshold as ice-filled (white).

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Rights: NSIDC
Published: 19 August 2025Size: 375.96 KB
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