SATELLITE-DERIVED MAPS OF ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC SEA-ICE MOTION - 1988 TO 1994

Standard image processing methods applied to 85.5 GHz Special Sensor M icrowave/Imager (SSM/I) data provide previously unseen details about s ea ice motion in the Arctic and Southern oceans. Means calculated from daily ice motions for 1988-1994 confirm the basic circulation pattern s established from drifting stations and buoys, but extend these obser vations to illustrate less well-known transport patterns in the Arctic coastal zones and sub-Arctic seas. In the Antarctic, the gridded moti on fields show a nearly continuous westward transport along the antarc tic coast, with well-defined regions of exchange between this East Win d Drift and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This detailed view of m ean ice motion in the Southern Ocean is unique and presents a comprehe nsive overview not previously available for Antarctic ice motions.