TITLE:    Spatial and temporal variability in Southern Ocean Sea Ice Coverage
AUTHOR:   Sharon E Stammerjohn
Palmer LTER Contribution #39

Spatial and temporal variability in Southern Ocean sea ice coverage is analysed
from October, 1978 to December, 1991.  Sea ice coverage is calculated from
passive microwave satellite data, using Scanning Multi-Channel Microwave
Radiometer (SMMR) and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data.  Spatial
variability in sea ice coverage was based on the following eight regions:
Southern Ocean, Weddell, Indian, West Pacific, Ross, Amundsen and
Bellingshausen regions, as well as a subregion of the Bellingshausen, the Long
Term Ecological Research (LTER) study area located west of the Antarctic
Peninsula.  The six adjacent Southern Ocean regions all show unique
interannual variability which is confirmed by cross spectral analysis of
monthly anomalies, and no two regions have the same anomalous years of extreme
maximum or minimum ice coverage.  Regional interannual variability appears to
be a yearly re-distribution of near constant ice coverage for the whole
Southern Ocean, and in extreme high or low ice years there are asymmetries in
Southern Ocean ice coverage. Spectral analysis of monthly anomalies confirmed
that most of the variance in regional ice coverages is due to interannual
variability.  Several patterns in interannual and annual variability are
observed in the 13.25-year time series of Southern Ocean ice coverage, and
possible climatic forcings contributing to these patterns are discussed.  A
thorough characterization of LTER ice coverage in comparison to the other
regional ice coverages is provided, and possible ice-ocean-air and
ice-ecosystem dynamics in the LTER region are explored