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Data

Arctic sea ice yearly minimum extent (NSIDC, 5-day mean)

The lowest Arctic sea ice extent of each year since 1987, on the 5-day trailing mean NSIDC uses for its minimum announcements, and the day it was reached. Earlier years are not shown: the satellite record then has a value only every other day.

Latest value

4.60million km²

Northern Hemisphere oceans (the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas), 12 September 2026 (preliminary). Version 4.0.

Arctic sea ice yearly minimum extent (NSIDC, 5-day mean) (million square kilometres)

40 values from 5 September 1987 to 12 September 2026.
Show as a table
Arctic sea ice yearly minimum extent (NSIDC, 5-day mean), every value
PeriodValue (million km²)Status
1987-09-056.96final
1988-09-127.13final
1989-09-156.91final
1990-09-226.04final
1991-09-186.30final
1992-09-097.21final
1993-09-096.18final
1994-09-086.96final
1995-09-086.03final
1996-09-117.19final
1997-09-236.63final
1998-09-196.35final
1999-09-135.76final
2000-09-125.98final
2001-09-206.60final
2002-09-145.64final
2003-09-186.01final
2004-09-205.79final
2005-09-225.32final
2006-09-175.77final
2007-09-184.15final
2008-09-204.59final
2009-09-135.12final
2010-09-214.62final
2011-09-114.34final
2012-09-173.39final
2013-09-135.05final
2014-09-175.03final
2015-09-094.43final
2016-09-104.17final
2017-09-134.66final
2018-09-234.66final
2019-09-184.19final
2020-09-163.82final
2021-09-164.77final
2022-09-194.70final
2023-09-194.26final
2024-09-144.25final
2025-09-104.60final
2026-09-124.60preliminary
Calculated by Environment Dashboard from Fetterer, Knowles, Meier, Savoie, Windnagel & Stafford (2025), Sea Ice Index, Version 4 (G02135), National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, Colorado, doi:10.7265/a98x-0f50, accessed 2026-10-05. Changes: 5-day trailing means of the daily extent, and the lowest of them in each year. No licence stated; free use with citation as a condition of use (NSIDC).

Notes on individual values

  • No 5-day mean can be formed for 1 January 1987 to 23 August 1987; 3 December 1987 to 31 December 1987, because NSIDC's file lacks a value for at least one day of those windows.
  • No 5-day mean can be formed for 1 January 1988 to 16 January 1988, because NSIDC's file lacks a value for at least one day of those windows.
  • NSIDC computed these days from JAXA's AMSR2 record (NSIDC-0803), the input from 2025.
  • NSIDC computed these days from JAXA's AMSR2 record (NSIDC-0803), the input from 2025. The year is not over: the lowest 5-day mean from 1 January to 4 October 2026.

Where it comes from

Producer
NOAA@NSIDC, National Snow and Ice Data Center (CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder) · Sea Ice Index, Version 4 (G02135)
Version
4.0
File
https://noaadata.apps.nsidc.org/NOAA/G02135/north/daily/data/N_seaice_extent_daily_v4.0.csv
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 1,902,717 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 411d93b321748650ef213a8ff81e72636efef0722248e2b8504c5e284c98c5c7ETag "6ac38124-1d087d" · Last-Modified Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:51:16 GMT
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Fetterer, F., Knowles, K., Meier, W. N., Savoie, M., Windnagel, A. K. & Stafford, T. (2025). Sea Ice Index. (G02135, Version 4). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://doi.org/10.7265/a98x-0f50. Daily and monthly sea ice extent, Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Date Accessed 2026-10-05.

What was done to it

  1. Read the Extent column of N_seaice_extent_daily_v4.0.csv (million km², data to 4 October 2026).

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/ice/nsidc_sea_ice.py · code sha256 8b0c8ba6e2a25c09… · inputs 411d93b32174…

  2. For every day whose four preceding days also have a value, took the mean of the five (NSIDC's 5-day trailing mean, exact decimal arithmetic). Windows with a missing day are skipped, never filled; no window may contain 14 September 1984, which NSIDC's user guide says is in error.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/ice/nsidc_sea_ice.py · code sha256 8b0c8ba6e2a25c09… · inputs 411d93b32174…

  3. For each calendar year, published the lowest of those means, dated by the day it ends on (the earlier day if two tie). Years with no complete window are not published: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 (the file has a value only every other day before 21 August 1987).

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/ice/nsidc_sea_ice.py · code sha256 8b0c8ba6e2a25c09… · inputs 411d93b32174…

  4. The last year is marked preliminary until the file reaches 31 December.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/ice/nsidc_sea_ice.py · code sha256 8b0c8ba6e2a25c09… · inputs 411d93b32174…

What it covers

Geography
Northern Hemisphere oceans (the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas)
Basis
Lowest 5-day trailing mean of NSIDC's daily sea ice extent (area of cells with at least 15% ice concentration) in each calendar year; the period is the last day of that 5-day window.
Unit
million square kilometres (million km²)