By measuring Arctic sea ice thickness, researchers are able to provide more accurate observations about Arctic ice melt. During the autumn of 2013 sea ice grew in thickness around Greenland by 33 per cent over the previous year’s measurement. The ice shrank in 2014, however it remained 25 per cent thicker than 2012 levels.
The researchers believe this increase in sea ice volume was due to the cool summer of 2013, suggesting that Arctic sea ice is more resilient than previously thought.
Researchers used more than 88 million individual CryoSat-2 altimeter measurement, taken between 2010 and 2014, to estimate ice thickness.
The researchers call for ice thickness measurements to be considered in future climate models.
Original research paper published in Nature Geoscience on July 20, 2015.
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