The Met Office Hadley Centre sea ice and sea surface temperature data set, version 2: 1. Sea ice concentrations

We present a new version of the sea ice concentration component of the Met Office Hadley Centre sea ice and sea surface temperature data set, HadISST.2.1.0.0. Passive microwave data are combined with historical sources, such as sea ice charts, to create global analyses on a 1° grid from 1850 to 2007. Climatology was used when no information about the sea ice was available. Our main aim was to create a homogenous data set by calculating and applying bias adjustments using periods of overlaps between the different data sources used. National Ice Center charts from 1995 to 2007 have been used as a reference to achieve this. In particular, large bias adjustments have been applied to the passive microwave data in both the Antarctic and Arctic summers. Overall, HadISST.2.1.0.0 contains more ice than HadISST1.1, with higher concentrations, shorter marginal ice zones, and larger extents and areas in some regions and periods. A new method for estimating the concentrations within the ice pack using the distance from the ice edge has been developed and evaluated. This was used when only the extents were known or the original concentration fields were heterogeneous. A number of discontinuities in the HadISST1.1 record are no longer found in HadISST.2.1.0.0. Key Points A monthly mean global sea ice concentration data set from 1850 is constructed Passive microwave data are combined with historical sources Adjustments are calculated using periods of data overlaps to achieve homogeneity